The Problems and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Diabetic Foot Infections

ABSTRACT

Objective: Hospitalization in patients with diabetic foot infection usually increases costs due to required long-term medical treatments and surgical managements. We aimed to investigate the ethiological factors of diabetic foot infections, frequency of osteomyelitis and amputation and the cost of diabetic foot infection treatments.
Materials and Method: Patients with DM and diabetic foot infections that was admitted to our Endocrinology clinic between January 2009 and January 2010 was reviewed retrospectively. Demographic properties, phisical examinations, laboratuary tests, treatments, hospitalization time and cost informations of patients were investigated.
Results: The mean age of 80 patients with 59 males and 21 females was 62±11 years. All patients were diagnosed as Type 2 DM except four patients (5%) with Type 1 DM. The mean duration of DM in our study group was 15.6 years, the mean hospitalization time was 22.1 days and mean cost per patient was 2573 $.
Discussion: Diabetic foot infection is an important complication of DM due to impaired quality of life, loss of work, developement of psychosocial trauma, increased frequency and duration of hospitalization, increased cost of treatment recently. Daily foot care and examination by patients seem an important factor to reduce cost of diabetic foot infections.