View article

The global burden of diabetes is projected to increase from the current 246 million people to over 380 million people by the year 2025. 1 Many people with diabetes develop complications that seriously affect their quality and length of life. Lower-limb complications are common, particularly foot ulcers and amputations, and show striking global variation in annual incidence, prevalence, and economic impact. Development of these complications is attributed to individual risk factors, poverty, racial and ethnic differences, and quality of local and national health care systems. The wide variation noted suggests that “best practices” in the low-incidence areas could be adapted to higher-incidence areas to reduce the frequency and burden of ulcers and amputations. In this chapter, the incidence, prevalence, and risk factors for ulcers and amputations in people with diabetes are reviewed, using English-language population …