Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are serious complications of diabetes and are a leading cause of amputation, although most cases are curable with proper care and management. Despite this, managing DFUs is complex and often overwhelming for patients. Poor adherence to DFU care is influenced by multiple factors, including low health literacy, financial constraints and limited social or family support. Low health literacy is especially common among individuals with lower levels of education, those who speak English as a second language and certain racial or ethnic groups. Digital health technologies have shown promise in improving patient knowledge and engagement, but their impact on clinical outcomes remains inconsistent. Key barriers to their effective use include language limitations, poor readability, lack of accessibility and high costs. Digital health platforms that are multilingual, culturally sensitive, accessible and tailored to different health literacy levels may help empower patients and reduce the risk of DFU-related complications. In this review, we explore the role of health literacy in DFU self-management, examine the causes of poor adherence, and discuss strategies to bridge health literacy gaps.
Xie et al. (Tue,) studied this question.