INFLUENCE OF EMPOWERMENT THEORY PLUS GRAPHIC HEALTH EDUCATION ON SELF-CARE KNOWLEDGE AND BEHAVIOR OF HIGH-RISK DIABETIC FOOT PATIENTS

Rui Gao^{1, #}, Yujie Gu^{2, #}, Kunjuan Jing⁴, Xueting Zhang², Chunmei Wang^{1, *}, Minhua Xiao^{3, *}

¹College of Nursing, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300000, China - ²Department of Endocrinology, Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei 071000, China - ³Department of breast surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei 071000, China - ⁴College of Nursing, Department of Medicine, Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei 071000, China

Introduction: To explore the influence of empowerment theory (ET) plus graphic health education (HE) on self-care behavior of high-risk (HR) diabetic foot patients. 

Materials and methods: This study enrolled 90 HR diabetic foot patients admitted to the Endocrinology Department of a Grade III-A general hospital from January 2021 to June 2021 and randomized them to an intervention group and a control group by mechanical sampling. The intervention and control groups were treated by ET plus graphic HE and traditional HE, respectively. The empowerment score, and the improvement of foot care knowledge and behavior pre-and post-intervention were compared. Patients’ quality of life was assessed using the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment (100-item version).

Results: The intervention group outperformed the control group in the scores of empowerment ability and foot care knowledge and behavior (P<0.05). An evident increase in the WHOQOL-10 score was observed in both groups after intervention (P<0.05), with a more statistical higher increase in the intervention group (P<0.05). 

Conclusion: ET plus graphic HE can effectively improve self-care knowledge and behavior of HR diabetic foot patients.