Objective To investigate the current status of quality of life and its influencing factors in elderly patients with minor amputations of the diabetic foot,providing a basis for medical staff to formulate intervention strategies.Methods A convergent mixed study design was used.A single-centre cross-sectional survey research method was used to select 168 elderly patients with minor amputation of the diabetic foot admitted to the Department of Wound Repair of a tertiary-level hospital in Beijing from May 2022 to May 2024 for questionnaire surveys and multivariate linear regression analyses of factors affecting the quality of life.During the same period,15 patients were selected for semi-structured interviews using purposive sampling based on ternary interaction determinism.Results Quantitative findings:A total of 167 valid questionnaires were retrieved,and the recovery rate of valid questionnaires was 99.4％.the total quality of life score of 167 respondents was(84.22±12.49)scores;the results of multivariate linear regression analyses showed that age and self-care ability were the independent risk factors affecting the quality of life of patients with minor amputation of the diabetic foot(P＜0.05).Qualitative findings:a total of 3 themes were extracted based on the triadic interactive determinism,including subject level,environmental level and behavioural level.Mixed findings:age and amputation affect the physical and mental state of patients and hinders quality of life improvement;limited work and life,and scarce external resources;the level of self-care ability restricts self-management behaviours and makes it difficult to improve quality of life.Conclusion Elderly patients with minor amputations of the diabetic foot have impaired physiological and psychological health to some degree,and healthcare professionals should be concerned about the negative impact of minor amputations on elderly diabetic foot patients,while also focusing on their individual needs and providing support.

Objective To investigate the current status of quality of life and its influencing factors in elderly patients with minor amputations of the diabetic foot,providing a basis for medical staff to formulate intervention strategies.Methods A convergent mixed study design was used.A single-centre cross-sectional survey research method was used to select 168 elderly patients with minor amputation of the diabetic foot admitted to the Department of Wound Repair of a tertiary-level hospital in Beijing from May 2022 to May 2024 for questionnaire surveys and multivariate linear regression analyses of factors affecting the quality of life.During the same period,15 patients were selected for semi-structured interviews using purposive sampling based on ternary interaction determinism.Results Quantitative findings:A total of 167 valid questionnaires were retrieved,and the recovery rate of valid questionnaires was 99.4％.the total quality of life score of 167 respondents was(84.22±12.49)scores;the results of multivariate linear regression analyses showed that age and self-care ability were the independent risk factors affecting the quality of life of patients with minor amputation of the diabetic foot(P＜0.05).Qualitative findings:a total of 3 themes were extracted based on the triadic interactive determinism,including subject level,environmental level and behavioural level.Mixed findings:age and amputation affect the physical and mental state of patients and hinders quality of life improvement;limited work and life,and scarce external resources;the level of self-care ability restricts self-management behaviours and makes it difficult to improve quality of life.Conclusion Elderly patients with minor amputations of the diabetic foot have impaired physiological and psychological health to some degree,and healthcare professionals should be concerned about the negative impact of minor amputations on elderly diabetic foot patients,while also focusing on their individual needs and providing support.