The risks and external effects of diabetic foot ulcer on diabetic patients: A hospital-based survey in Wuhan area, China.

Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is a common complication observed in diabetic patients and affects diabetic patients in multiple ways. Severe DFU even leads to amputation in many cases. Early detection and intervention of DFU in diabetic patients can significantly relieve the pain caused by the ulcer and also keep patients from losing limbs in severe cases. In this study, the risks of diabetic patients getting DFU were estimated through a hospital-based survey. This survey collected information from hospitalized diabetic patients in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, using a questionnaire. This investigation includes studies from two stages with 502 diabetic patients from 20 hospitals in Wuhan City. The results suggested that patients with a long history of diabetes are often associated with a high risk of DFU (χ2  = 11.428, p = 0.0007), smoking (χ2  = 8.386, p = 0.0007), diabetic complications (χ2  = 13.484, p < 0.0001), and especially patients with diabetic foot complications (χ2  = 57.6621, p < 0.0001). Foot lesions appeared to be important attributors to DFU since our data demonstrated close correlations between DFU and patients with calluses/corns (χ2  = 4.584, p = 0.0323), tinea pedis (χ2  = 4.030, p = 0.0447), and cracked skin (χ2  = 8.712, p = 0.0032). Only a small number of patients seek for the assistance from specialists, such as trimming toenails (3.4%), removing corn or calluses (1.4%) or treating wounds (11.78%), when they are suffering from foot problems. The findings of this study can potentially be utilized to develop an early DFU diagnostic method in diabetic patients and can provide objective evidence for suggesting that patients who are suffering from foot problems should seek professional help.