Introduction: Neuropathic pain is a type of chronic pain caused by damage or dysfunction in the peripheral or central nervous system. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of pain intensity in the quality of self-care among patients with type 2 diabetes suffering from neuropathic pain, with the mediating role of illness perception.
Method: This research was descriptive and employed a correlational design using structural equation modeling (SEM).The statistical population included all patients with type 2 diabetes and neuropathic pain in Yazd Province, Iran, who were either members of the Yazd Diabetes Association or referred to clinics and specialists’ offices during autumn 2024. A purposive sample of 300 patients was selected. Data were collected using the Diabetes Self-Care Questionnaire (Hamdzadeh et al., 2012), the McGill Pain Questionnaire (1997), and the Illness Perception Questionnaire (2006). In data analysis, both descriptive statistics (including frequency tables, percentages, measures of central tendency and dispersion such as mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics were used. For the proposed model, goodness-of-fit indices and path coefficients were extracted.
Results: Statistical analyses revealed that pain intensity had a significant direct effect on self-care behaviors among patients with type 2 diabetes and neuropathic pain (p < 0.05). Furthermore, illness perception significantly mediated the relationship between pain intensity and self-care behaviors in this patient population (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: The findings suggest that, in addition to pain management, enhancing illness perception may serve as an effective strategy to improve the quality of self-care behaviors in patients with type 2 diabetes suffering from neuropathic pain.
Bashardoust Tajali F, babakhani N. The Mediating Role of Illness Perception in the Relationship Between Pain Intensity and Self-Care Behaviors in Patients with Diabetes and Neuropathic Pain. IJNR 2025; 20 (4) URL: http://ijnr.ir/article-1-3029-en.html