Background: Diabetic foot complications disturb the daily life of patients including changes in sleep pattern, impaired mobility, and interference with certain aspects of life such as sexuality, feelings of loneliness, powerlessness, anxiety and depression. While research into biology of the diabetic foot (DF) is making great strides, the psychology of patient experience with diabetic foot remains a somewhat underappreciated topic.
Objective: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the impact of DF on the psychological aspects of the patients, and compare such findings to patients with diabetes but no DF complications.
Patients and methods: The study was a cross-sectional comparative study that included 186 patients attending at the diabetic clinic and diabetic foot clinic at Specialized Medical Hospital, Mansoura University, from June 2020 to May 2021. The participants were divided into 93 diabetic patients with diabetic neuropathic foot complications as Group I and 93 diabetic patients without diabetic neuropathic foot complications as Group II.
Results: There was a non-statistically significant difference between studied groups as regard insomnia severity scale. There was a statistically significant association between insomnia severity scale and neuropathic foot complications as regard deformity and diabetic foot ulcer (DFU). Among cases with severe insomnia severity scale; 50% have deformity and 75% DFU. Conclusion: Diabetic neuropathic foot complications has an impact on psychological aspects of patients. The prevention of diabetes-related complications is important to improve patient's Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) which is an important outcome measurement from the patient's perspective relating to the impact of the disease.