title: Cognitive Dysfunction: Part and Parcel of the Diabetic Foot.
abstract: The presence of a foot ulcer increases the self-treatment burden imposed on the individual with diabetes. Additionally, this condition increases the cognitive demands needed for adherence to medical recommendations. A potential gap could exist between medical recommendations and the individual's ability to implement them. Hence, the goal of this study was to examine whether the cognitive profile of people with diabetic foot ulcers differs from that of people with diabetes without this complication.
  
  
  
  This was a case-control study. Ninety-nine individuals with diabetic foot ulcers (case patients) and 95 individuals with type 2 diabetes (control subjects) (age range 45-75 years), who were matched for diabetes duration and sex, underwent extensive neuropsychological evaluation using a NeuroTrax computerized battery, digit symbol, and verbal fluency tests. A global cognitive score after standardization for age and education was computed as well as scores in the following six cognitive domains: memory, executive function, reaction time, attention, psychomotor abilities, and estimated premorbid cognition.
  
  
  
  Individuals with diabetic foot ulcers had significantly (P < 0.001) lower cognitive scores than individuals with diabetes without this complication, in all tested cognitive domains, excluding estimated premorbid cognition. Individuals with diabetic foot ulcers demonstrated a significant difference between precognitive and current cognitive abilities, as opposed to the nonsignificant difference among control subjects. The differences persisted in multivariable analysis after adjusting for depression and smoking.
  
  
  
  Individuals with diabetic foot ulcers were found to possess fewer cognitive resources than individuals with diabetes without this complication. Thus, they appear to face more self-treatment challenges, while possessing significantly fewer cognitive resources.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er Sheva, Israel Endocrinology Institute, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel rnatovich@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Natovich
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er Sheva, Israel Department of Psychology, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel.
authors.forename: Talma
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kushnir
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er Sheva, Israel Diabetes Clinic, Soroka Medical Center, Be'er Sheva, Israel.
authors.forename: Ilana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Harman-Boehm
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel Orthopedic Rehabilitation Department, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Daniella
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Margalit
authors.affiliation: Orthopedic Rehabilitation Department, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Itzhak
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Siev-Ner
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er Sheva, Israel Clalit Health Services, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tsalichin
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er Sheva, Israel Clalit Health Services, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Ilia
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Volkov
authors.affiliation: Clalit Health Services, Tel Aviv, Israel Department of Family Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Shmuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giveon
authors.affiliation: Loewnstein Hospital Rehabilitation Center, Raanana, Israel.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rubin-Asher
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology Institute, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel Gertner Institute Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel Epidemiology Department, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Tali
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cukierman-Yaffe
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D017719:Diabetic Foot / Q000523:psychology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology