Diabetes-related foot disease is a pathology with a high prevalence worldwide, and it is estimated that 5 to 25 per cent of people with diabetes develop foot ulcers, facing a high risk of infections and amputations.

To combat the impact of this condition, a national study, with the participation of RISE-Health, proposes ‘the development of a mobile application centred on self-care support for people with type 2 diabetes mellitus’.

Currently, the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes-related foot disease is based on ‘monitoring the patient’s foot and analysing the problems they may have, namely peripheral neuropathy, peripheral arterial disease, infection and ulcers,’ explains Maria Rui de Sousa, a researcher at RISE-Health.

‘The development of an application such as iGest Diabetes, which is part of iGestSaúde, an initiative of the Nursing School of Porto (ESEP), aims to support the self-care of people with diabetes,’ emphasises Maria Rui de Sousa, adding that the adoption of the application will enable ‘the promotion of skills that enable the prevention of complications and, often, early detection’.

In the paper published in the journal CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, the authors state that the development of the application includes a wide range of educational content, highlighting ‘the role of this content in training people in self-care practices for their feet, emphasising its ability to improve knowledge and promote healthy habits’.

In Maria Rui de Sousa’s view, ‘glycaemic control and the control of lipids and blood pressure are key aspects in preserving neurological vascular function’, she points out, adding that self-care on the part of patients is also an important step in the prevention and treatment of diabetes-related foot disease.

The paper “Mobile Application Prototype for Foot Self-care Support for Persons With Diabetes: A Human-Centered Design Approach” is authored by Geysa Lopes, Maria José Lumini Landeiro and Maria Rui de Sousa, with the latter two RISE-Health researchers. This scientific paper is part of the doctoral thesis of Geysa Lopes, a student in the Doctoral Programme in Nursing Sciences at the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences of the University of Porto (ICBAS-UP).