Diabetic foot risk assessment

Area of Science:

• Diabetology
• Podiatry
• Clinical Risk Assessment

Background:

• Diabetes is a global health issue with high prevalence (9% in 2014).
• Diabetic foot complications, including ulcers and amputations, pose significant risks to patients worldwide.
• Effective risk assessment is crucial for managing diabetic foot complications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate a novel risk assessment tool for diabetic foot complications.
• To specifically predict the risk of developing diabetic foot ulcers and subsequent amputations.
• To provide clinicians with a tool to assess individual patient risk more accurately.

Main Methods:

• Development of the DIAbetic FOot Risk Assessment (DIAFORA) tool.
• Regression analysis of data from 293 high-risk diabetic patients with existing foot ulcers.
• Calculation of sensitivity, specificity, positive/negative predictive values, and likelihood ratios for risk categories.

Main Results:

• DIAFORA predicts the risk of both diabetic foot ulcers and amputations.
• Identified specific risk variables derived from regression analysis.
• Provided detailed statistical values (sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, likelihood ratios) for clinical use.

Conclusions:

• DIAFORA offers a distinct approach by predicting both ulcer and amputation risk.
• The tool provides valuable data, including likelihood ratios, to aid clinicians in patient risk stratification.
• Further evaluation of risk assessment effectiveness is warranted.