Representações sociais do pé diabético para pessoas com diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Diabetic foot is one of the most devastating complications of diabetes mellitus and it is a relevant public health problem. Knowing the social representations elaborated by individuals can help identify meanings, beliefs and behaviors and facilitate the planning of tailored and humanized care, contributing to self-management and control of this comorbidity. This study aims to understand the social representations of diabetic foot for people with diabetes mellitus, identifying the elements that constitute them. This is an exploratory, descriptive research with a qualitative approach, based on the theory of social representations, carried out in a capital of northeastern Brazil, in the first semester of 2019. The data collection and analysis triangulation was also applied as a methodological approach. It was used, as data collection techniques, the free word association with 100 participants. Of these participants, 16 responded to semi-structured personal interviews. The analysis of free associations was carried out with the assistance of the openEVOC software and the data from the interviews were analyzed with support for categorization of the WebQDA software, applying resources of thematic content analysis techniques. Analysis through openEVOC resulted in the four quadrant diagram, with identification of the central nucleus and the peripheral elements of social representation of the diabetic foot. From the corpus constitution and analysis, meaning nuclei emerged that were described in three categories and four subcategories related to the social representations for individuals with diabetes mellitus about diabetic foot: images of the diabetic foot; experiencing the diabetic foot with its subcategories cognitive aspects, psycho-affective aspects, social aspects and spirituality; and social attitudes towards the diabetic foot. The social representations of the diabetic foot are based on a painful daily experience associated with imposed limitations, dependence on third parties and difficulties to perform previously usual activities. The study indicates that the experience with this comorbidity is represented by individuals in a multidimensional way, expressing their cognitive processes of appropriation of knowledge of the reified universe and of what is socio-culturally shared, influencing thinking and acting, as well as highlighting the emotionally negative burden that involves this condition. By knowing the social representations of diabetic foot, health providers, especially nurses, can implement innovative educational and care approaches according to individuals' perceptions and expectations, aligning these approaches to recommendations for diabetic foot management, strengthening nursing as a profession and science.