Related factors to illness perception of individuals with diabetic foot ulcers: A structural equation modelling test

Background: Diabetic foot is a common and severe complication of diabetes with limited movement, emotional distress, and poor quality of life. Illness perception was introduced to improve patients' psychological status and quality of life with diabetic foot ulcers. The aim of the study is to explore the related factors of illness perception, and to structure an illness perception model of patients with diabetic foot ulcers. Methods: We recruited 208 patients with diabetic foot ulcers from six hospitals from April 2021 to February 2022. A multicentered cross-sectional study was conducted to collect the data. Questionnaires included illness perception, coping behavior, emotional status, and quality of life. We performed multiple linear regression analysis with illness perception as the dependent variable, and evaluated the goodness of fit of the resulting structural equations models based on covariance structural analysis. Results: Illness perception was negatively related to coping behavior and quality of life, and it was positively correlated with yield-coping behavior, anxiety, and depression. The pain, diabetes duration, quality of life, yieldcoping strategy, and sex were the factors that affected illness perception in patients with DFUs (P<0.05). The resulting model was found to exhibit goodness of fit. Conclusion: Illness perception had an especially strong and direct impact on quality of life, depression, and anxiety. Therefore, it is significant to improve illness perception in patients with DFUs, and provide positive support based on cognitive behavioral therapy to improve illness perception, quality of life, and emotional status.