Socio-Demographic, Clinical and Diabetes Status of Foot Ulcer Patients

Background: Foot ulcers are considered as a serious complication, especially for patients with diabetes. People with diabetes and people with peripheral vascular disease are more likely to develop foot ulcers. If an infection occurs in an ulcer and is not treated in the proper way, it can develop into cellulitis, osteomyelitis, or gangrene that may require some part of the toe, foot, or lower leg to be amputated. The aim of this study was to find the socio-demographic, clinical, and diabetes status of foot ulcer patients. Material & Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted in the Department of Surgery, Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, Rajshahi, Bangladesh, during the period from March 2012 to August 2012. In total 100 patients with foot ulcers in the different surgical units of the mentioned hospital were enrolled in this study as study subjects. Data from the study regarding age, sex, occupation, smoking habit, and socio-demographic condition were recorded in the prescribed questionnaire. The purposive sampling technique was used for this study. All data were processed, analyzed, and disseminated using MS Excel and SPSS version 23 programs as necessary. Results: In this study, the male-female ratio of the participants was 2:1. The maximum number of patients (42%) were from the age of 51-60 years and the highest number of patients were housewives (28%), followed by farmers (22%). Among the total male patients, 87.88% were smokers. Low HDL was found in 51% of patients and 68% of patients had been suffering from diabetes mellitus,18% from Buerger’s disease and 6% from atherosclerosis, and 8% from malignant foot ulcer. Most of the diabetic patients (95.59%) were hyperglycemic on admission and 55.88% had diabetes for 6-10 years. On admission, 3 patients (4.41%) had controlled blood sugar and 65 patients (95.59%) had uncontrolled blood sugar. Conclusion: The frequency of foot ulcers among the male population was higher than that in females. Concerning occupation of the patients, housewives and farmers were the most prevalent. Smokers were most affected groups among the study population. Pre-diagnosed diabetes mellitus for a long period was one of the major clinical issues in most of the patients. Uncontrolled blood sugar was also seen in majority of the patients regarding clinical background.