Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Diabetic foot represents a daunting complication of diabetes, compromising the patient’s functional prognosis and leading to a deterioration in the quality of life.

Objectives: To assess the quality of life of diabetic patients with diabetic foot and analyze the factors associated with a decline in quality of life.

Patients and methods: An observational, analytical, and prospective study involving 58 patients hospitalized in the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases. The patient’s quality of life was assessed using the SF36 score, and factors related to poor quality of life were analyzed using SPSS software.

Results: The average age of our patients was 52.5 years, with a male predominance in 59.5% of cases. The average duration of diabetes was 14.2 years, and that of foot ulcers was 3 months. Overall, the quality of life was low in all eight SF-36 subscales: physical functioning (mea n=45%); role limitations due to physical health (mea n=32%); role limitations due to emotional problems (mea n=33%); emotional well-being (mea n=52%); social functioning (mea n=37.45%); pain (mea n=55%); general health (mea n=35.6%), and vitality (mea n=35%). The presence of pain, ulcer recurrence, peripheral arterial disease (PAD), and a longer duration of ulcer evolution were associated with a poorer quality of life (p: 0.05).

Conclusion: Diabetic foot represents an economic and psychosocial burden, resulting in a significant deterioration in the quality of life for patients. Psychological support and better pain management are necessary to alleviate this burden.