Short summary

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) are a common complication to diabetes, and can result in amputation and death. To investigate how chronic DFU and amputations affect patients lives, we will perform a prospective cohort study of patients with chronic DFU undergoing amputations. These study will use the condition specific PROM WOUND-Q, the newly developed LIMB-Q and the generic PROM EQ-5D-L5. Patients will be followed 1 year after amputation.

Rationale

Diabetes patient's life expectancy are increasing, which leads to increased prevalence of diabetes related disorders such as diabetic foot ulcers (DFU). Up to 34% of diabetic patients will develop a foot ulcer at some point in their lives. DFU is a major warning sign, as the risk of death and lower extremity amputation (LEA) rise. LEA related to diabetes is more dangerous than serious illness such as cancer, as only 50% of diabetics having amputations will be alive after one year. Due to this severity, numerous initiatives have been taken to detect and prevent DFU in the primary and secondary sector. Since DFU and LEA have great impact on the patients' quality of life and function, it is of great importance to collect patient-reported outcomes (PRO), to enlighten the patient perspective. Patients with DFU and LEA are a fragile and diverse population, requiring intensive treatment, frequent appointments, broadly interdisciplinary collaboration, and good and effective treatment across sectors. Despite wide agreement of the importance of collecting PRO, in health-care evaluation, quality assessments, treatment evaluation and shared-decision making, PRO are not routinely collected among patients with DFU and LEA. The overall aim of this project is to enlighten how the lives of patients with chronic diabetic foot ulcers and amputations are affected.

Description of the cohort

Patients with a chronic diabetic foot ulcer, speaking and reading Danish and > 18 years, will be recruited from the department of Vascular surgery at Kolding Hospital, and the wound care center at OUH. Patients will be invited at ambulatory visits or under admission.

Data and biological material

PROMs (WOUND-Q, LIMB-Q, EQ-5D) Demographics Data from the patient journal (blood samples, treatment information, wound characteristics, diagnosis)

Collaborating researchers and departments

Department of Vascular Surgery, Kolding Hospital

Department of Orthopedic surgery, Kolding Hospital