Evaluation of ulceration risk on the feet of diabetic patients from the primary care in a Brazilian County: A cross-sectional analytical study

Objective: To evaluate the risk of developing diabetic foot ulcers in Primary Care patients in a Brazilian county. Methods: Cross-sectional analytical study developed in the city of Olinda (PE), Brazil. An analysis of risk factors for diabetic foot ulcerations was made using the criteria established by the International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot (2019). The data were analyzed statistically considering P<0.05 and the confidence interval used of 95%. The chi-square association test and the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) were used for multivariate analysis. Results: It was seen that 25.5% of people with diabetes were at level 2 risk for diabetic foot ulcers. The highest prevalence of risk was associated with the presence of mid foot collapse (P-value 0.001). As for clinical related causes, the highest risk of foot ulceration was identified in the presence of poor glycemic control (adjusted odds ratio, OR = 2.79 (95% confidence interval, CI 1.15-2.29); P = 0.002) and previous amputation (adjusted OR = 2.67 (95% CI 1.45-2.56); P = 0.003). Conclusion: In the analyzed sample, the intermediate risk (level 2) for diabetic foot ulcers was the most frequent, especially in patients with midfoot collapse, poor glycemic control and previous amputation.