MARCH 28, 2023

Not Their Best Foot Forward

Rural and Black Patients See Worse Outcomes for Diabetic Foot Ulcers

By Gina Shaw

Rural patients and patients who are Black have a higher risk for major amputation from a diabetic foot ulcer than other patients with the same condition.

When combined, these factors have an additive effect that produces an amplified risk for major amputation, according to recent research from a group at the University of Wisconsin (JAMA Netw Open 2022;5[4]:e228399).

In a cohort of 124,487 Medicare patients hospitalized with diabetic foot ulcers, 17.6% underwent major (above the