The Central Role of Learning in Preventing Foot Complications in Persons With Diabetes: A Scoping Review.
Kristofer Björk, Susanne Andersson, Ulla Hellstrand Tang and 1 others
PMID 40001301WHAT IT FOUND
Diabetes foot-care education was described as learning processes: reflection, motivation, hands-on tasks and feedback.
Included studies reported practice, peer support and reinforcement; the review did not prove these prevent ulcers.
Key findings
01The review included 27 studies of adult patients with diabetes who required foot care.
02It identified two themes: learning insights for understanding and self-efficacy, and practical knowledge related to foot care.
03Four subthemes were identified: integrative and reflective learning, motivational and collaborative learning, task-oriented and procedural learning, and feedback and reinforcement-based learning.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This is a scoping review, so it maps learning processes and educational strategies rather than testing whether they prevent foot ulcers. No formal quality appraisal of included studies was conducted. No protocol was registered, which may affect replicability and study selection. The search terms may have excluded relevant studies because 'lear*' returned many unrelated artificial-intelligence papers and 'education' was too broad. Only English-language studies were included. Included studies varied widely in design, sample size, follow-up and cultural context, limiting comparison. Many included studies had small samples and short follow-up, so long-term effects are unclear. Publication bias may overrepresent studies with significant findings.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The supplied text does not report funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that tailored foot-care education prevents diabetic foot ulcers. This scoping review mapped learning processes without formal quality appraisal, and included studies varied; one reported no significant difference in new ulcers, and another reported patients still could not recall the main message after 6 months.