Health Belief Model for Prevention of Diabetic Foot among Elderly

Abstract

Diabetes is a common chronic disease affecting older people, and it is becoming a global health concern. The IDF reported that 425 million people diagnosed with DM in 2017, the number is projected to rise to 642 million by 2040 and the number of diabetic elderly is expected to increase to 252.8 million by 2035. The prevalence of diabetes is expected to increase exponentially in the next 20 years for developing countries. This has largely been attributed to unhealthy lifestyles, ageing, globalization and urbanization (Sharoni et al.,2017; IDF,2017). High prevalence of DM is associated with increase in its complications among diabetic elderly patients. Diabetic foot problems as one important complication of DM constitute an increasing public health problem and are a leading cause of hospital admission, amputation and mortality in diabetic patients, the peak prevalence being between 60 and 80 years of age. Worldwide, approximately 40-60% of all non-traumatic amputations of the lower extremities are performed in patients with diabetes (Marzouk et al.,2017). Health Belief Model that was selected as a theoretical framework for this study is one of the most effective models of health education which mainly focuses on disease prevention. Previous studies showed successful application of HBM in explanation and prediction of preventive health behavior. Based on HBM, individual must believe that is susceptible to a disease (perceived susceptibility), understands the risk and it’s sever to his life (perceived severity). So, understanding individuals’ view points and beliefs is essential for developing the strategies of controlling diabetes (Dehghani-Tafti et al.,2015).