Who Are Diabetic Foot Patients? A Hospital Based Descriptive Study in the Gaza Governorate

Abstract

Worldwide, Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is now one of common non-communicable diseases. Diabetic Foot Ulcer (DFU) is one of the most important complications of DM due to its frequency and its high risk of evolution to amputation. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of diabetic foot (DF) patients and their foot ulcers in the Gaza governorate, in order to establish effective national preventive programs in Palestine. Quantitative hospital based descriptive study was carried out between January and April 2014 including all patients (N = 148) attending DFU clinic. Medical archives of included patients were utilized and necessary data was collected using predesigned data collection tool. Findings shows, 97 (65.5%) of study participants were males with mean age 58.5 years. About 96.6% of DF had type II diabetes. Eighty percent (80%) of the patient had DM duration for more than 10 years, 91.5% of patients were doing follow up to control their DM, about two third of cases had poor DM control, and 79.0% of the patients had hypertension. All DF patients had a sensory neuropathy, 72.6% had a severe motor neuropathy and 79.9% had autonomic neuropathy. About 60.8% had neuropathic ulcer. The amputation rate was 25.7%, with most of them being in the toes 68.4%. In conclusion, DF is most likely to develop in 5th and 6th decades with a long duration of DM and uncontrolled blood glucose level. Male, hypertensive, and type II DM patients are at high risk. Sensory, motor and autonomic neuropathy of patient with neuropathic ulcer is a major etiologic component of most diabetic foot. Emphasis should be directed toward patient education, changes in lifestyle and application of multidisciplinary approach to decrease the incidence of diabetic foot complications in the Gaza Governorate.