Survey of the feet care based on Health Belief Model in diabetes type II patients referring to the Diabetes research center of Kermanshah in 2006

Diabetic foot complication and its amputation is one of the most physical and emotional disabilities in diabetic patients. Since much of the care of the patients is on their own part and it is not possible for them to be under the medical attention of physicians, nurses and health workers, the best way is to care for their feet at home. The aim of this study was to survey the care of the feet based on Health Belief Model in type II diabetics referring to Kermanshah diabetes research center. In this cross-sectional study 108 type II diabetic patients referring to Kermanshah diabetes center were selected randomly. Data collecting was done by means of a questionnaire having 59 questions and covering, 5 sections including: demography, knowledge, health belief model (perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits, barriers, and cues of action) foot care at home, and the checklist. The findings showed that 33.3% of the subjects got only 40% of knowledge scores and 14.8% had not acquired at least 30% of the scores. The patient's perceived susceptibility was low, so that 32.4% of them were not aware of the risk of diabetic foot and only 2.8% of them knew foot-care benefits completely. The findings showed that there was a significant relationship between the mean score of perceived benefits scores and the level of perceived susceptibility with the level of foot care (P< 0.05); because only 2.8% of the patients took everyday necessary care of their feet at home. According to this study knowledge and attitude of the subjects (i.e. two aspects of Health Belief Model) were at an average level but their behavior regarding foot care was lower than average. It seems that the use of theoretical based models such as Health Belief Model and self-efficacy theory can be effective on promoting foot care level.