Social Deprivation Increases Risk of Chronic Diseases Such as PAD For Diabetics
A recent study published in Diabetes Care highlighted the relationship between social deprivation and the incidence of diabetes-related foot disease, including lower-extremity amputation, peripheral artery disease, and peripheral neuropathy.
This population-based retrospective cohort used data from 2005 through 2019, analyzing the presence of disease based on a quintile analysis through a tool called the Townsend deprivation index. The population was then stratified into quintiles, with the patients in lower quintiles being more socially-deprived.
Based on a population of more than 175,000 patients, 12.1% of patients developed diabetes-related foot disease within 3.27 years. However, the risk of developing disease was found to be higher for those patients in lower quintiles.
Patients in the most deprived quintile had the following increased risk of disease, by adjusted hazard ratio:
- Peripheral Artery Disease (Peripheral Vascular Disease) 1.4
- Peripheral Neuropathy, 1.18
- Foot Ulcer 1.44
- Lower Limb Amputation 1.75
- Gangrene 8.49
With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing, resulting in increased social deprivation for many, the need to identify chronic conditions like those above, especially in at-risk populations, is more important than ever.
