The effect of nurse-led diabetic foot self-management training program on diabetic foot knowledge, foot care behavior, patient adherence and self-efficacy levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a randomized controlled study

The study was conducted using a randomized controlled interventional design to examine the effect of a nurse-led diabetic foot self-management education program (DFSMEP) on diabetic foot knowledge, foot care behavior, self-efficacy and patient compliance levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). The study was conducted between January 2023 and January 2024 in Ankara Etlik City Hospital General Hospital Endocrinology Outpatient Clinics with 48 participants as intervention (n=25) and control (n=23) groups. Block randomization method was used in the study. Participants in the intervention group received DFSMEP for eight weeks, while participants in the control group received general information about pancreatic anatomy and physiology only once at the beginning of the study. A personal information form, diabetic foot knowledge scale, foot care behavior scale, chronic diseases adaptation scale, diabetic foot care self-efficacy scale, and diabetic foot evaluation form were used to collect the data. Diabetic foot knowledge scores significantly increased over time in the intervention group following the DFSMEP (p=0,001). In addition, there was a significant increase in the foot care behaviors (p<0,001) and self-efficacy levels (p=0,008) in the intervention group at the end of the fourth and eighth weeks compared to the control group, while there was no significant difference in terms of chronic disease compliance scores (p=0,988). In line with the findings, it was concluded that the nurse-led DFSMEP was an effective intervention in improving the diabetic foot knowledge, foot care behaviors and self-efficacy levels in patients with type 2 DM. It is recommended that nurse-led DFSMEP can be incorporated into diabetes education sessions delivered in existing diabetes education outpatient clinics and thus disseminated to these units.