Diabetic foot ulcer self-care assessment: a scoping review.
Amelina de Brito Belchior, Florência Gamileira Nascimento, Mariane Carlos de Sousa and 2 others
PMID 37556696WHAT IT FOUND
Validated questionnaires exist for checking how people with diabetes care for their feet, but they cover different behaviours and often leave out how well they were tested.
Use them to target foot self-care education, not as proof of better outcomes.
Key findings
01The review included 15 studies and found five general diabetes self-care instruments with foot-care items plus 11 foot-specific instruments.
02Foot-specific instruments commonly addressed foot inspection, washing, drying, finger inspection, lotion application, and shoe and sock use.
03One questionnaire mentioned statistical tests but omitted their results.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This scoping review maps instruments; it does not show that using them improves foot self-care or prevents diabetic foot ulcers. Some instruments were not clearly presented, and one questionnaire omitted the results of its statistical tests. Only one included study was quasi-experimental, so evidence of these instruments being used to assess an intervention is limited. The search method could miss instruments whose original versions were not published or identifiable.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the list of instruments as evidence that using them prevents diabetic foot ulcers or amputations. The review mapped assessment tools and their reporting; it did not test patient outcomes.