Foot ulcers among diabetic patients visiting surgery department in a university teaching hospital in Ajman, UAE

Diabetes is a very common lifestyle-related metabolic disease in UAE. UAE has the second highest prevalence of diabetes worldwide. Foot problems are one of the commonest reasons for hospital admission among diabetics. The major risk factors for foot disease are peripheral neuropathy, peripheral vascular disease, poor vision and foot deformities. Development of foot ulceration is preventable. To assess the frequency of foot ulcers among diabetic patients visiting the surgery department in a university teaching hospital in Ajman, UAE especially in relation to gender, nationality and age. This hospital-based retrospective record analysis was conducted for patients with diabetes mellitus visiting department of surgery for a period of 8 years from 2002 to 2010. Among the diabetic patients recruited for this study, 75% were males and 25% were females. Among these diabetic patients, 76.3% of male patients were diagnosed with foot ulcers as opposed to 23.8% of female patients. It was witnessed that majority of diabetic patients were from Asia [53.1%] and Middle East [33.8%] whereas African [12.3%] and European [0.8%] patients made up a minority. Diabetic foot ulcers were reported more in Asian patients [57%] compared to patients from Middle East [29.1%]. The age of majority of the diabetic patients in this study was the range of 30 to 70 years and diabetic foot ulcers were most prevalent in the age group 50 to 59 years [42.5%] and least prevalent in the age group 20 to 29 years [5%]. Asian middle-aged male diabetics are most likely to have foot complications. It is important to educate all diabetic patients about the importance of self-examination of both feet, and physicians should routinely examine the feet of all diabetic patients, which would go a long way in preventing development of foot ulcers