Age Characteristics of Patients With Type 2 Diabetic Foot Ulcers and Predictive Risk Factors for Lower Limb Amputation: A Population-Based Retrospective Study.

Background

Limited data are available about the epidemiological characteristics and the risk factors for amputation, particularly in developing countries from Asia, especially in China.

Objective

We aim to investigate the age features of patients with Type 2 diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) and analyze the critical influencing factors predicting lower extremity amputation and major amputation.

Methods

Data were retrieved from the electric medical record system to identify patients aged > 18 years with Type 2 DFU from January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2023. A logistic regression model was adopted to analyze the risk factors for amputation and major amputation.

Results

Nine hundred eighteen patients with Type 2 DFU were eligible for our study, 68.2% of whom were male. In patients with Type 2 diabetes in the hospitals we studied, the prevalence of Type 2 DFU was 1.07%. A majority of patients with DFU were in the 70-79 age group in the winter season, and deaths also peaked in this age group. A total of 38.8% of patients aged 50-59 years underwent amputation. Vascular CTA, complications, history of amputation, and infection sites were the important contributing factors in patients with DFU lower extremity amputation. History of amputation and hemoglobin were the main influencing factors of patients with major amputation resulting from DFU.

Conclusion

Most patients with DFU were in the age group of 50-59 years, but the majority of deaths occurred in the 70-79-year age group. Several factors influence the amputation, and those findings provide new insights into the relationship between the severity of narrowed blood vessels and the likelihood of amputation.