A health needs assessment of adults with diabetic foot disease in the US.

Introduction: Diabetic foot disease has been considered as an important complication of diabetes mellitus. The main risk factor to cause diabetic foot disease is peripheral neuropathy. Diabetic foot disease usually started from diabetic foot ulceration, it would develop to diabetic foot infection and amputation even death when conducting the poor prognosis and management of diabetic foot ulceration. Despite this, incidence of diabetic foot disease is still increasing and is therefore potentially under-recognized, under-diagnosed and under-treated all over the word, especially in the US. The aim of this study is to clarify the needs of the adults at risk and health care providers in diagnosis and treatment of diabetic foot disease in the US.

Methods: Cochrane library, bibliographic databases, American Diabetes Association website and DFS questionnaire website have been used to search the relevant literature of diabetic foot disease among adults in the US. Additionally, conducting subgroup analysis to review the relevant literature.

Results: The findings of this health needs assessment described that diabetic foot disease in the adults is higher in men than women in the US. American Indian achieved the highest prevalence of diabetic foot disease, in comparison to other ethnic groups. Meanwhile, age has been defined as an important factor to influence the diabetic foot disease rate. Diagnosing properly is important, in accordance with understanding the etiopathogenesis of diabetic foot disease for health professionals. A comprehensive Foot Examination has been established and developed by the American Diabetes Association (ADA). It has been used widely with the characters of easy conducting and rapid performance. Moreover, treatment of DFUs with becaplermin gel obtained the lower cost and the larger clinical benefit when comparing the traditional wound care.