Comportamento e conhecimento: fundamentos para prevenção do pé diabético

Abstract

Objective:To describe the knowledge and behaviors of patients with diabetes towards foot care. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at a university research and intervention center in the interior of the state of São Paulo. Data were collected through interviews, two specific questionnaires, and physical examination of the foot in 55 patients in 2005. Results: The participants did not recognize the dimension of the true risks regarding lack of foot care. The participant knowledge of diabetes did not translate into actions to prevent foot problems. These results suggest the need to take into consideration specific individual characteristics and the individual's interactions with the environment in designing educational interventions. Conclusions: Health care professionals need to understand that discrepancy between knowledge and behaviors of patients with diabetes is not an obstacle impossible to cross, but a challenging issue that needs to be addressed. Keywords: Diabetes mellitus; Primary prevention; Diabetic foot/prevention & control; Health behavior; Health knowledge, attitudes, practice RESUMO Objetivo: Identificar o conhecimento e comportamento de pessoas diabéticas em relação aos cuidados com os pés. Métodos: Estudo descritivo e transversal realizado em um centro de pesquisa e extensão universitária do interior paulista, em 2005. Foram entrevistados 55 pacientes diabéticos. Para a obtenção dos dados utilizamos um formulário, dois questionários e exame físico dos pés. Resultados: As pessoas diabéticas não reconhecem a dimensão do risco real com relação aos pés. O conhecimento referido nem sempre se traduz na adoção de ações de autocuidado para a prevenção de problemas relacionados aos pés. Esta realidade aponta para a necessidade de considerarmos as particularidades de cada sujeito e sua interação com o ambiente, para delineamento das intervenções educativas. Conclusões: É preciso que os profissionais de saúde compreendam que o descompasso entre conhecimento e comportamento dos diabéticos não deve ser interpretado como um obstáculo intransponível, mas como um dos desafios fundamentais que precisam ser enfrentados. Descritores: Diabetes mellitus; Prevenção primária; Pé diabético/prevenção & controle; Conduta de saúde; Conhecimentos, atitudes e prática em saúde RESUMEN Objetivo: Identificar el conocimiento y comportamiento de personas diabéticas en relación a los cuidados de los piés. Métodos: Estudio descriptivo y transversal realizado en un centro de investigación y extensión universitaria del interior paulista, en el 2005. Fueron entrevistados 55 pacientes diabéticos. Para la obtención de los datos utilizamos un formulario, dos cuestionarios y examen físico de los piés. Resultados: Las personas diabéticas no reconocen la dimensión del riesgo real en relación a los piés. El conocimiento referido no siempre se traduce en la adopción de acciones de autocuidado para la prevención de problemas relacionados a los piés. Esta realidad apunta hacia la necesidad de considerar las parti...

Knowledge, attitudes and practices for the prevention of diabetic foot

“…It was also perceived that there was a predominance of women in relation to men, which could be explained by the fact that women are more concerned with health, had a greater perception of the disease and used the health service more often. This finding is not considered a new fact, and is in line with other studies on similar topics (8)(9)(10)(11) . However, unlike the results of another study (11) , this study revealed that most diabetics, even after claiming they know how to perform hygiene correctly, could not explain which or how to adequately conduct these practices, and were also unaware of the ideal footwear and how to cut their toenails correctly.…”

“…These results are similar to those obtained in other studies (8,(12)(13)(14)(15) , which show inadequate self-care behaviour, although diabetics know that appropriate foot care is necessary. This disconnection between attitudes and self-care foot practices suggests a deficiency of previous knowledge, which can be related to the lack of access to information that should be provided by professionals of the USF, and to the non-conduction of physical exams or sensitivity tests on patient's feet during their consultations.…”

Prevalência e fatores associados à neuropatia periférica em indivíduos com diabetes mellitus Prevalence and factors associated with peripheral neuropathy in individuals with diabetes mellitus

“…The longer the time of diagnosis of diabetes, the more likely to develop PND and foot ulcers; however, every diabetic individual with any time of diagnosis should be screened for risk factors for foot problems. [11][12] The gender most affected by the PND was male (48.84%). The study also revealed that men have a 3.7 times greater chance of presenting PND than women.…”

Atuação do enfermeiros da Estratégia Saúde da Família na prevenção do pé diabético Practice nurse family health strategy in the prevention of diabetic foot

“…Thus, it is evidenced that the study subjects consider instruction a strategy to educate individuals diagnosed with DM, which contributes with the adoption of behaviors directed to self-care, since the more they have access to information and knowledge about their health condition, the more ability they will have to take steps to promote their quality of life; considering that the provision of instructions, along with the effective support by the nursing professionals are indispensable factors to provide the individual with knowledge, abilities, behaviors and motivation for self-care and self-control of the disease. [29][30][31] The nurses also mentioned educational lectures that can be considered of low impact in the transformation of individual and collective realities, when the professional that gives them does not take the into consideration the socioeconomical context of the individuals with DM, and also does not allow a dialogue between the professional and the patient, thus becoming an activity limited only to the transmission of knowledge. 32 Another educational activity performed is the waiting room, which can be described as a productive way to occupy an idle time in the FHUs, by transforming the waiting period for the consultations into moments that can provide educational and experience exchange processes among the users, allowing the exchange of popular knowledge and the nursing professional knowledge.…”