Foot ulcer risk and location in relation to prospective clinical assessment of foot shape and mobility among persons with diabetes.
OBJECTIVE
We assessed baseline clinical foot shape for 2939 feet of diabetic subjects who were monitored prospectively for foot ulceration.


METHODS
Assessments included hammer/claw toes, hallux valgus, hallux limitus, prominent metatarsal heads, bony prominences, Charcot deformity, plantar callus, foot type, muscle atrophy, ankle and hallux mobility, and neuropathy. Risk factors were linked to ulcer occurrence and location via a Cox proportional hazards model.


RESULTS
Hammer/claw toes (hazard ratio [HR] (95% confidence interval [CI])=1.43 (1.06, 1.94) p=0.02), marked hammer/claw toes (HR=1.77 (1.18, 2.66) p=0.006), bony prominences (HR=1.38 (1.02, 1.88), p=0.04), and foot type (Charcot or drop foot vs. neutrally aligned) (HR=2.34 (1.33, 4.10), p=0.003) were significant risk factors for ulceration adjusting for age, body mass index, insulin medication, ulcer history and amputation history. With adjustment for neuropathy only hammer/claw toes (HR=1.40 (1.03, 1.90), p=0.03) and foot type (HR=1.76 (1.04, 3.04), p=0.05) were significantly related to ulceration. However, there was no relationship between ulcer location and foot deformity.


CONCLUSIONS
Certain foot deformities were predictive of ulceration, although there was no relationship between clinical foot deformity and ulcer location.
Cowley
Matthew S
MS
Department of Veterans Affairs, RR&D Center of Excellence for Limb Loss Prevention and Prosthetic Engineering, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA 98108, United States.
Boyko
Edward J
EJ
Shofer
Jane B
JB
Ahroni
Jessie H
JH
Ledoux
William R
WR
D000368:Aged; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005530:Foot Deformities / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D016523:Foot Ulcer / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment