[Foot ulceration risk factors in type 2 diabetes mellitus]

OBJECTIVE: To identify risk factor prevalence for development of foot ulcers in patients with type 2 diabetes (DM2). METHODS: A cross sectional study, of 2067 patients with DM2 from seven primary care units was conducted. A questionnaire exploring age, sex, occupation, time from diabetes mellitus diagnosis (DMD), and data concerning neuropathy, vascular changes, and presence of infections, anthropometry, and gait was applied. RESULTS: We found mean age, 59.96 +/- 11.47 years and time from DMD, 10.2 +/- 8.09 years. From 1360 women, 65.8 % presented the following risk factors: age, 34.7 %; schooling, 49.5 %; time from DMD, 38.8 %; occupation, 20 %; smoking, 24.3 %; alcoholism, 4.6 %; fasting glucose disturbance, 78 %; ulcer history, 10 %. In relation to associated diseases, 67.5 % of patients had one or more antecedent. The presence of risk factors in the sample was 9.716 +/- 2.52, of which 6.259 +/- 1.59 were modifiable. CONCLUSIONS: Patients studied presented high risk factor prevalence for development of foot ulcer. The majority of RF is potentially modifiable by adjusting patients' customs and habits