Associations of foot ulceration with quality of life and psychosocial determinants among patients with diabetes; a case-control study

Abstract

Background

Patients with diabetic foot ulcers may have a lower quality of life. The objective was to compare the quality of life and its psychosocial determinants among patients with and without diabetic foot ulcers.

Methods

A case-control study was conducted in 2017 among patients with (cases) and without (controls) diabetic foot ulcers. The study tools included the World Health Organization’s Quality of Life scale (WHOQOL-BREF), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale for anxiety and depression, the Patient Health Questionnaire Physical Symptoms (PHQ-15) for the severity of somatic symptoms, and the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA) measure for self-management.

Results

A total of 209 patients (45 cases and 164 controls) were included. The average age was 56.2 ± 11.7 years, and 55.5% were female. The average scores of WHOQOL-BREF, PHQ-15, and SDSCA were 74.4% ± 12.1% and 8.1 ± 6.1, and 30.4 ± 21.8, respectively. The prevalence of anxiety and depression were 19.6 and 24.9%, respectively. SDSCA was the only psychosocial determinants higher in cases than controls (mean difference = 15.0, 95% CI = -8.0–22.0). The correlation coefficients of WHOQOL-BREF scores with anxiety, depression, and PHQ-15 scores in all patients were − 0.559 ( p < 0.001), − 0.582 ( p < 0.001), and − 0.532 ( p < 0.001), respectively, with similar numbers in both groups. In multivariate analysis, only the association between quality of life and depression was maintained.

Conclusion

Quality of life and psychosocial determinants with the exception of self-management were not associated with diabetic foot ulcers. Depressive symptoms were independent determinant of poor quality of life, irrespective of the status of diabetic foot ulcers.