CARING OF FEET OF PEOPLE WITH DIABETES MELLITUS: PROTECTIVE ACTIONS LINKED TO HEALTH PROMOTION

Abstract

The goal of this article is to investigate the behavior of patients by evaluating the feet of people diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus registered in a Health Care Center. It is a descriptive and transversal research originated from a macro project that employs the mixed-transversal methodology. The sample (n=15) consisted in women, mean age of 62.33 years, with diabetes mellitus type 2, members of an interdisciplinary group of care and health promotion for the family. The instruments used were an evaluation form feet, adapted from the International Consensus on the Diabetic Foot, and patient records from the macro-project file in order to obtain their sociodemographic data. Data was collected from August 2013 to July 2014 in the municipality of Jequié, Bahia. The analysis was made using Excel® and SPSS softwares. It was shown that 73.33% of the participants already had their feet evaluated by a health professional. The assessment of their feet showed that just the protective sensitivity (98.52%) and the tactile sensitivity (93.33%) were not present; muscle strength was found satisfactory; distal pulses and posterior tibial pulses decreased by 13.33% and 33.33%, respectively. The proximal strategy in action research approach has proved to be a significant tool to prevent and/or reduce the neuro-musculoskeletal and vascular level complications of their feet. It is emphasized that educational activities about self-care guidance is a basic tool to promote primary health care of people in order to guarantee a better quality of life.