Gender Difference in the Risk of Adverse Outcomes After Diabetic Foot Disease: A Mini-Review

Prediction of outcomes in subjects with type 2 diabetes and diabetic foot ulcers in Catalonian primary care centers: a multicenter observational study

BACKGROUND

Diabetic foot and lower limb complications are an important cause of morbidity and mortality among persons with diabetes mellitus. Very few studies have been carried out in the primary care settings. The main objective was to assess the prognosis of diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) in patients from primary care centers in Catalonia, Spain, during a 12-month follow-up period.

METHODS

We included participants with type 2 diabetes and a new DFU between February 2018 and July 2019. We estimated the incidence of mortality, amputations, recurrence and healing of DFU during the follow-up period. A multivariable analysis was performed to assess the association of these outcomes and risk factors.

RESULTS

During the follow-up period, 9.7% of participants died, 12.1% required amputation, 29.2% had a DFU recurrence, and 73.8% healed. Having a caregiver, ischemia or infection were associated with higher mortality risk (hazard ratio [HR]:3.63, 95% confidence interval [CI]:1.05; 12.61, HR: 6.41, 95%CI: 2.25; 18.30, HR: 3.06, 95%CI: 1.05; 8.94, respectively). Diabetic retinopathy was an independent risk factor for amputation events (HR: 3.39, 95%CI: 1.37; 8.39). Increasing age decreased the risk for a DFU recurrence, while having a caregiver increased the risk for this event (HR: 0.97, 95%CI: 0.94; 0.99). The need for a caregiver and infection decreased the probability of DFU healing (HR: 0.57, 95%CI: 0.39; 0.83, HR: 0.64, 95%CI: 0.42; 0.98, respectively). High scores for PEDIS (≥7) or SINBAD (≥3) were associated with an increased risk for DFU recurrence and a lower probability of DFU healing, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

We observed high morbidity among subjects with a new DFU in our primary healthcare facilities. Peripheral arterial disease, infection, and microvascular complications increased the risk of poor clinical outcomes among subjects with DFU.

Type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes accounts for nearly 90% of the approximately 537 million cases of diabetes worldwide. The number affected is increasing rapidly with alarming trends in children and young adults (up to age 40 years). Early detection and proactive management are crucial for prevention and mitigation of microvascular and macrovascular complications and mortality burden. Access to novel therapies improves person-centred outcomes beyond glycaemic control. Precision medicine, including multiomics and pharmacogenomics, hold promise to enhance understanding of disease heterogeneity, leading to targeted therapies. Technology might improve outcomes, but its potential is yet to be realised. Despite advances, substantial barriers to changing the course of the epidemic remain. This Seminar offers a clinically focused review of the recent developments in type 2 diabetes care including controversies and future directions.

Sequelae of Hospitalization for Diabetic Foot Ulcers at LASUTH Ikeja Lagos: A Prospective Observational Study

Abstract

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) remain important sequelae of diabetes (DM) which cause debilitating effects on the sufferer. The evolution of some aspects of epidemiology and the current clinical impact of DFUs was examined.

Methods

A single-center prospective observational study. Study subjects were consecutively recruited.

Results

Total medical admissions during the study period were 2288, 350 were DM related, out of these 112 were admitted for DFU. 32% of total DM admissions were for DFU. The mean age of the study subjects is 58 ± 11.0 range is from 35 years to 87 years. Males were slightly predominant (51.8%). Most of them were actively employed (92%), and the majority were in the 55 to 64 years age category. Most of them had not been diabetic for longer than 8 years (61%). The mean duration of DM is 8.32±7.27 years. The mean duration of ulcer at presentation was 72.0±138.13 days. The majority of the patients (80.3%) presented with severe (grades 3 to 5) ulcers, Wagner grade four was the most predominant. Regarding clinical outcome, 24 (24.7%) had an amputation, 3 of which were minor. The factor that was associated with amputation was concomitant heart failure – OR 6.00 CI 0.589-61.07, 0.498-4.856. Death occurred in 16 (18.4%). The factors associated with mortality were severe anemia OR 2.00 CI 0.65 – 6.113, severe renal impairment requiring dialysis OR 3.93 CI 0.232-66.5, concomitant stroke OR 8.42 CI 0.71-99.6, and peripheral arterial disease- OR 18.33 CI 2.27 -147 p-value- 0.006.

Conclusion

The hallmark of DFU in this report is late presentation, it accounted for a significant proportion of the total medical admissions, although the case fatality of DFU reduced from previous reports from the center, mortality, and amputation rates are still unacceptably high. Concomittant heart failure was a factor of amputation. Mortality was associated with severe anemia, renal impairment and peripheral arterial disease.

Mortality Risk Associated with Diabetic Foot Complications in People with or without History of Diabetic Foot Hospitalizations

The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of death after hospitalizations for diabetic foot (DF) complications, comparing two different cohorts of people with or without a prior history of DF hospitalizations across the years 2011 to 2018 in Tuscany, Italy. The DF complications were categorized by administrative source datasets such as: amputations (both major and minor), gangrene, ulcers, infections, Charcot and revascularizations. A further aim was to present the trend over time of the first ever incidents of diabetic foot hospitalizations in Tuscany. The eight-year-mortality rate was higher in the cohort with prior hospitalizations (n = 6633; 59%) compared with the cohort with first incident DF hospitalizations (n = 5028; 44%). Amputations (especially major ones) and ulcers had the worst effect on survival in people without basal history of DF hospitalizations and respectively in those with a history of prior DF hospitalizations. In both cohorts, revascularization procedures, when compared to ulcers, were associated with a significantly reduced risk of mortality. The prevalence rate of minor amputations showed a slightly rising trend over time. This result agrees with the national trend. Conversely, the progressive increase over time of revascularizations, associated with the fractional decrease in the rate of gangrene, suggests a trend for more proactive behavior by DF care teams in Tuscany.

Gender Differences in the Risk of Adverse Outcomes After Incident Diabetic Foot Hospitalization: A Population Cohort Study

BACKGROUND

Diabetic Foot Disease (DFD) is more prevalent among males and is associated with an excess risk of cardiovascular events or mortality.

AIMS

This study aimed at exploring the risk of cardiovascular events, renal failure, and all-cause mortality after incident DFD hospitalizations, separately in males and females, to detect any gender difference in a cohort of 322,140 people with diabetes retrospectively followed up through administrative data sources in Tuscany, Italy, over the years 2011-2018.

METHODS

The Hazard Ratio (HR) for incident adverse outcomes after first hospitalizations for DFD, categorized as major/minor amputations (No.=449;3.89%), lower limbs' revascularizations (LLR: No.=2854;24.75%), and lower-extremity-arterial-disease (LEAD) with no procedures (LEAD-no proc: No.=6282;54.49%), was compared to the risk of patients having a background of DFD (ulcers, infections, Charcot-neuroarthropathy: No.=1,944;16.86%).

RESULTS

DFD incidence rate was higher among males compared to females (1.57(95% CI:1.54-1.61) vs. 0.97(0.94-1.00)/100,000p-years]. After DFD, the overall risk of coronary artery disease was significantly associated with the male gender and of stroke with the female gender. LEAD-no proc and LLR were associated with the risk of stroke only in females, whereas they were found to be associated with the risk of coronary artery disease among females to a significantly greater extent compared to males. The incident of renal failure was not associated with any DFD category. Amputations and LEAD-no proc significantly predicted high mortality risk only in females, while LLR showed reduced risk in both genders. Moreover, females had a greater risk of composite outcomes (death or cardiovascular events). Compared to the background of DFD, the risk was found to be 34% higher after amputations (HR: 1.34(1.04-1.72)) and 10% higher after LEAD-no proc (HR:1.10(1.03-1.18)), confirming that after incident DFD associated with vascular pathogenesis, females are at an increased risk of adverse events.

CONCLUSION

After incident DFD hospitalizations, females with DFD associated with amputations or arterial disease are at a greater risk of subsequent adverse cardiovascular events than those with a DFD background.

Type 2 diabetic women are not small type 2 diabetic men: Sex-and-gender differences in antidiabetic drugs

Many pieces of evidence have accumulated over time suggesting sex-and-gender differences in type 2 diabetes, the most relevant being the greater excess risk of cardiovascular diseases in women with diabetes than in men. Drugs available for the treatment of diabetes have, meanwhile, increased in number and effectiveness over the last 20 years. Nonetheless, overall metabolic control of diabetes continues to be suboptimal, with a clear further disadvantage for women. Moreover, old and new glucose-lowering drugs present some sex-and-gender differences, although women continue to be underrepresented in all cardiovascular outcome trials testing their efficacy and protective effects. We conclude that pharmacology should wear gender glasses starting from preclinical research to overcome all these gender gaps.