The following is a summary of “Quality of Life in Patients with Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Cross-sectional Study,” published in the December 2022 issue of Critical care by Dias, et al.
For a study, researchers sought to examine the relationships between and effects on the quality of life (QoL) associated with diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs; DFUQoL) of sociodemographic, clinical, and psychological factors.
The sample consisted of 70 patients with DFUs who completed the following questionnaires: a sociodemographic and clinical questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Illness Perception Questionnaire-Brief, the Diabetic Foot Ulcer-Short Form, and the Medical Term Recognition test. The associations between the variables were investigated using Pearson & biserial correlation coefficients, hierarchical regressions, and moderation analyses.
The findings demonstrated a relationship between poorer DFUQoL and larger DFU, threatening perceptions of DFU, and more psychological discomfort. Also contributing to lower DFUQoL were increased psychological distress, threatening DFU representations, and antibiotic use. The correlation between the severity of the DFU and negative feelings was mitigated by clinically significant degrees of psychological distress.
The study highlighted the significance of psychological therapies in the treatment of patients with DFUs by demonstrating the association between QoL and its dimensions and psychological distress as well as the greater effect of DFU representations on QoL than a larger-sized wound.
