SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Neuromuscular Disorders and Peripheral Neuropathies
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancing Chronic Pain Management: Fostering Resilience, Recovery, and Systemic ChangeView all articles
Experiences and needs of individuals living with diabetic peripheral neuropathy: a qualitative systematic review and meta-synthesis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
- 2Guang'an Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guang'an, China
- 3Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
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Objective This study synthesises qualitative literature on the lived experiences of patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) during their illness, aiming to help healthcare professionals understand patients' emotional perspectives and perceived needs, thereby facilitating the development of more effective medical interventions. Methods 2 The Joanna Briggs Institute meta-synthesis method was used to analyse the 10 included qualitative studies. Results By synthesising the original studies, four themes and eleven subthemes were extracted, comprehensively analysing patients' symptom experiences, physical-psychological-social impacts, self-management strategies, and needs. Conclusions Healthcare professionals should emphasise foot care education, understand the connotations of self-compassion and pain catastrophizing, and develop individualised interventions for different populations to enhance patients' self-care abilities and improve their well-being.
Keywords: diabetic complications2, diabetic peripheral neuropathy1, illnessexperiences3, Qualitative research5, self-management4
Received: 14 Nov 2025; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Xu, Huang, Wang, Guo, Liao, Yang and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Fang Wang
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