30 Sept 2024 • As per new evidence, short-term mortality rates in people with a diabetes-related foot ulcer (DFU) is high.

The National Diabetes Foot Care Audit involving patients with DFUs found mortality rates climbing to 14.4% within a year. Out of 71,000 patients monitored from 2017 to 2022, 7.3% of individuals faced a mortality rate exceeding 25%, with this figure rising to 22.1% among those aged 80 and over.

Key risk factors for mortality at 26 weeks included: older age, certain ulcer characteristics (area ≥1 cm2, deep ulcers or hindfoot location and recorded evidence of ischaemia in the lower limb and various comorbidities (heart failure, myocardial infarction, stroke, renal replacement therapy and chronic kidney disease stage 3 or greater.

These findings highlight an urgent need for healthcare teams to shift focus from merely healing ulcers to improving the overall quality of life for these vulnerable patients.

Source: Diabetologia | Read full story