부산대학교 도서관

Although the physical pathways to diabetic neuropathic foot ulceration are well researched and described, few studies have focused on the behavioral aspects of foot ulceration. Those few studies that have focused on educational interventions have tended to employ general educational strategies, such as information provision, fear arousal, or promotion of self-esteem, rather than being founded on preparatory research, and they often fail to target important pre-requisites for particular behavioral changes. This article focuses on previous studies of patient education and high risk patients before considering more recent cross-sectional and prospective studies in this area. Preliminary results of more recent studies suggests that patients' behaviors are guided by their representations (beliefs) of the health threats rather than being driven by the abstract designation of being 'at risk.' Ongoing research will help us to better understand the contents of patients' beliefs, and should involve a closer collaboration between clinicians and health psychologists.