[Diabetic Foot Neuropathy and Related Factors in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus]

Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) face a higher risk of diabetic foot neuropathy, which increases the risk of death. The early detection of factors that influence diabetic neuropathy reduces the risk of foot lesions, including foot ulcerations, lower extremity amputation, and mortality.

To explore the demographic, disease-characteristic, health-literacy, and foot-self-care-behavior factors that affect diabetic foot neuropathy in patients with T2DM.

A case-control study design was employed in which cases (Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument, MNSI) ≥ 2 were matched to controls based on age and gender in a medical center. A total of 114 patients diagnosed with T2DM in a medical center were recruited as participants. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using Fisher's exact test, Mann-Whitney U test, and logistic regression.

The results of multiple logistic regression showed that glycated hemoglobin (B = 1.696, p = .041) and communication and critical health literacy (B = -0.082, p = .034) were significant factors of diabetic foot neuropathy.

The findings of this study suggest that nurses should assess the health literacy of patients with T2DM before providing health education and should develop a specific foot-care intervention for individuals with poor glycemic control.