Diabetic Foot Ulcer Risk in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevelance and factors associated with diabetic foot ulcer risk (DFU) in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. Methods: This cross-sectionale study was conducted in the rural and urban areas in the South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, from April to December 2022. The study included people diagnosed with T2DM for atleast one year, aged 18-60 years. The outcome of the study was DFU risk among people diagnosed with T2DM, which was measured using the screening for the High-Risk Diabetic Foot 60-Second Tool and Ipswich Touch Test (IpTT). Results: Of total 361 T2DM patients, the mean age was 53.8 ± 5.8 years. There were 118 (32.7%) males and 243 (67.3%) females. Overall risk of DFU was observed in 110 (30.5%) patients. A significant association of DFU risk found with gender (p-value 0.007), education (p-value <0.001), occupation (p-value 0.033), ethnicity (p-value 0.039), and diabetes complications (p-value <0.001). Females were 0.48 times less likely at risk of diabetic foot ulcer as compared to males (cOR 0.52, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.84, p-value 0.007). There was 0.62 times less risk of diabetic foot ulcer in patients who had no diabetes complications as compared to patients with diabetes complications (cOR 0.38, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.65, p-value <0.001). Conclusion: The study highlighted a notable prevalence of DFU in T2DM patients. Gender, education, occupation, ethnicity, and diabetes complications emerged as key factors influencing DFU risk. Moreover, females and patients without diabetes complications had significantly lower DFU risk

Keywords

• Diabetic Foot
• Foot Ulcer
• Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
• Noninsulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus