Diabetic foot complications are the leading cause of non-traumatic lower-limb amputation in the United States, according to the National Institutes of Health, but new research indicates that preventative care by a podiatrist can reduce the risk of diabetic amputations by nearly 29 percent.
Meeting, held July 15-18 in Seattle, Washington, a team led by Teresa Gibson, PhD, searched the Thomson Reuters, MarketScan Research Databases to compare health and risk factors for 32,000 patients with diabetes who had podiatry visits to those who did not. The databases house blinded healthcare claims data that researchers use to understand health economics and outcomes.
“Using the MarketScan Databases, we statistically matched patients with diabetes and foot ulcers who had visited a podiatrist with like patients who had not. The analysis of the data indicates that patients who had seen a podiatrist in the year prior to the onset of a foot ulcer had significantly lower rates of any amputation and hospitalization than those who had not.”
According to presenter Vickie R. Driver, MS, DPM, the records indicated that care by a podiatric physician (defined as at least one preventative, pre-ulcer visit) was associated with a nearly 29-percent lower risk of amputation and 24-percent lower risk of hospitalization.
“The results of this study undeniably support visits to a podiatrist being critical to a diabetes patient’s health and well being…,” Driver said. “The earlier a podiatrist is included in the diabetes-management team, the better the quality of life for the patient and greater healthcare cost savings for all involved. This study clearly allows us to understand both the clinical and economic value of a podiatrist in the team approach to saving diabetic patients’ feet.”
For more information, visit www.apma.org/diabetesstudy
