Quality of Life in Patients with Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Cross-sectional Study

Objective: To analyze the associations among and contributions of sociodemographic, clinical, and psychological variables to quality of life (QoL) related to diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs; DFUQoL). Methods: The sample comprised 70 patients with DFUs who answered the following questionnaires: the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Illness Perception Questionnaire-Brief, Diabetic Foot Ulcer-Short Form, Medical Term Recognition test, and a sociodemographic and clinical questionnaire. Pearson and biserial correlation coefficients, hierarchical regressions, and moderation analyses were conducted to study the relationships among variables. Results: The results showed that a large DFU, threatening representations about DFU, and more psychological distress were associated with lower DFUQoL. Also, more psychological distress, more threatening DFU representations, and taking antibiotics contributed to worse DFUQoL. Clinically significant levels of psychological distress moderated the relationship between the DFU extent and negative emotions. Conclusions: This study showed that QoL and its domains were associated with psychological distress and that QoL was more influenced by DFU representations than by a larger-sized wound, emphasizing the importance of psychological interventions in the treatment of patients with DFUs.
This research was conducted at the Psychology Research Centre (CIPsi/UM) School of Psychology, University of Minho, supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the Portuguese State Budget (UIDB/01662/2020), by a FCT grant (PTDC/PSI-GER/28163/2017). The authors have disclosed no other financial relationships related to this article. Submitted May 27, 2022; accepted in revised form August 9, 2022.