The amputation of lower limbs is one of the Diabetes Mellitus (DM) complications caused by diabetes foot. Simple preventive measures focused on foot care behavior care are significant help in prevention against diabetes foot. Due to the high severity and prevalence of diabetes foot, several studies have been made aiming to identify variables which contribute to improve adhesion to preventive measures concerning foot care of diabetes patients. However, it has not yet become clear which factors contribute to establish and maintain foot care behavior. The proposal of this study was to identify variables which contribute to establish and maintain foot care behavior, thus contributing to avoid diabetes feet in people with diabetes. The thesis is divided into three studies: the first one, transversal descriptive, was characterized as a baseline for the other two, which were experimental. The research was developed in a basic health unit in the city of Belém, Pará Brazil. The first study investigated: the rules (orientations) related to foot care presented to patients with diabetes by health professionals of the Hiperdia; the behavioral repertoire of 54 participants with diabetes on foot care; the state of feet health care of participants with diabetes. The second study investigated the effect of rules in the establishment and maintenance of foot care behavior in people with diabetes, manipulating, or not, the presentation of questions on foot care; and, if the patient were receiving foot examinations. The third one investigated, on 16 patients, the effects of rules in the establishment and maintenance of foot care behavior of people with diabetes, when: (a) reports that rule following of foot care produced social reinforcement; (b) the patients were presented with rules which explained why foot care rules should be followed; (c) they were presented rules that specified justifications on why foot care rules should be followed, and the report on following foot care rules produced a social reinforcement; (d) report on foot care rule following did not produce social reinforcement and the rules presented did not have the justifications for foot care. Results from Study 1 indicated that the presentation of instructions on foot care by health professionals is insufficient, the behavioral repertoire of foot care is precarious, and there is possibility of risks in developing diabetes foot among the patients. In general, the manipulations carried out on both Study 2 and 3 favored an increase of new behavior on foot care in the participants’ behavioral repertoire. These data suggest that foot care rule following depends on: (a) contact with aversive consequences caused by following or not of rules; (b) the presentation of questions which favor behavior self-destruction; (c) the presentation of social reinforcement; (d) the presentation of justifications to the emission of behavior; (e) combined presentation of justifications for the emission of behavior and the consequences for the behavior emitted; (f) exposition to a greater number of favorable conditions to rule following; (g) pre-experimental historic of rule following; and, (h) monitoring of rule following behavior by health professional.
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