Non-Infectious Dermatological Manifestations among Patients with Diabetes Mellitus in Basrah, Iraq

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a clinical illness usually linked to a wide range of skin manifestations; however, skin, as the greatest organ in the body, has received little attention. As a result, this study aimed to detect the prevalence and pattern of non-infectious skin disorders among patients with diabetes. This study was carried out at the Faiha Specialized Diabetes, Endocrine, and Metabolism Center, Basrah Province, Iraq, from September 2020 to September 2021. The data were collected from 347 patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The exclusion criteria were patients with skin changes due to some medications, pregnancy, iatrogenic factors, skin infections, established hypo- or hyper-thyroidism, Cushing or adrenal insufficiency, pituitary disorders, end-stage renal impairment, malignancy, and established rheumatological disease and those who were on chemotherapy. Full dermatological examinations and screenings were performed under the supervision of a dermatologist expert and all clinically definable cutaneous lesions were recorded. The prevalence of skin lesions was estimated at 71.5% in patients. Pruritus, xerosis, acrochordon, diabetic dermopathy, acanthosis nigricans, and insulin-related lipohypertrophy were the commonest skin lesions reported among the patients. The occurrence of skin lesions in diabetic patients was proportional to the female gender, duration of disease, obesity, insulin therapy, and worse glycemic control. There was a broad spectrum of skin lesions in both T1DM and T2DM with corresponding prevalence.