Impact of foot ulcer‐related factors on quality of life in patients with diabetes: Prospective observational study

Abstract

AbstractQuality of life (QOL) may be impacted by foot ulcer‐related factors, with prevention of diabetes‐related foot ulcers or more effective early healing helping to improve overall patient QOL. This study, which examined the relationship between foot ulcer‐related factors and QOL in patients with diabetes, was conducted as a secondary analysis of a prospective observational study entitled: “Factors associated with the discontinuation of wound care specialist clinic visits in patients with diabetic foot ulcers”. We investigated EQ‐5D‐5L, patient characteristics and foot ulcer‐related factors of 73 patients with diabetes‐related foot ulcers who visited one wound clinic in Indonesia between August 2020 and February 2021. Results showed that the mean health utility was 0.294 ± 0.371. Factors selected for the multiple regression analysis included inflammation/infection of DMIST, first‐ever foot ulcer, and size of DMIST. First‐ever foot ulcer (β = 0.309, p = 0.003) and size of DMIST (β = −0.316, p = 0.015) were significantly associated with the health utility (p < 0.001). Significant improvement in the health utility of 15 patients was observed when the ulcer healed (Wilcoxon signed‐rank sum test, p = 0.001). In conclusion, not only ulcer severity but also the first‐ever foot ulcer itself affected the QOL in patients with diabetes. These results suggest there will be a greater impact on the QOL of patients who develop diabetes‐related foot ulcers for the first time, along with the importance of prevention and early healing, through early infection control and wound size reduction.