An educational intervention on foot self-care behavior among diabetic retinopathy patients with visual disability and their primary caregivers.

Aims and objectives To assess the effectiveness of a 12-week educational intervention on foot self-care behaviour among diabetic retinopathy patients with visual disability and their primary caregivers in China. Background Diabetes with the coexistence of diabetic retinopathy and foot problems complicating diabetes not only represents a personal disaster, but also becomes a serious burden to public health in China. A foot self-care educational intervention is both cost-effective and feasible even in a health resource-limited setting, which should be developed and evaluated. Design Quasi-experimental. Methods From July-September 2017, we enrolled 80 eligible hospitalised diabetic retinopathy patients and their primary caregivers by convenient sampling method in a first-class comprehensive hospital in Nantong, in China. Before and after the educational intervention that is in accordance with the TREND statement (for details, see the "Supplementary File 1"), researchers and subjects filled out the self-designed questionnaire on foot problems complicating diabetes and the Diabetic Foot Self-care Behavior Scale, respectively. Results Scores of foot self-care behaviour among the subjects significantly improved from 54.19 +/- 8.01-75.85 +/- 5.04. The number of patients with fasting blood glucoses <7.0 mmol/L improved from 43 (53.75%)-80 (100%). The results of incidence of foot problems complicating diabetes were not statistically significant. The complete execution of each item in Diabetic Foot Self-care Behavior Scale of subjects was apparently higher. Conclusions This educational intervention can facilitate positive foot self-care behaviours among the diabetic retinopathy patients with visual disability and their primary caregivers in China. Relevance to clinical practice. This study adds to the evidence of the effectiveness of an educational intervention to foster positive foot self-care behaviours. This educational intervention appears to be prospective in promoting diabetic home-based self-management in China, and the delivery method of the intervention may be applied to other chronic diseases.