A comprehensive therapeutic patient education may improve wound healing and reduce ulcer recurrence and mortality in persons with type 2 diabetes

Objectives: The impact of a comprehensive therapeutic patient education (TPE) on the prognosis of diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) has not yet been evaluated in the literature. The purpose of this study was to determine whether TPE is a predictor of outcome in type 2 diabetes patients with DFU. Methods: We evaluated 583 consecutive individuals with a recent and single DFU. They were treated and followed for 42.8±23.3 months. Patients were divided into 2 groups. The TPE group included subjects who had been receiving regular sessions of a comprehensive TPE, including a specific foot care education (FCE), for at least 12 months before DFU occurred (n=129). The non-TPE group comprised the remaining subjects (n=454). All 583 patients received intensive FCE during the treatment period. Results: We identified a significantly higher percentage of healed DFUs (96.0% vs 74.9%; p<0.0001) and a lower percentage of major amputations (0.8% vs 4.4%; p=0.0511), minor amputations (1.6% vs 12.3%; p=0.0003), DFU persistence (1.6% vs 8.4%; p=0.0069) and deaths (1.6% vs 21.4%; p<0.0001) in the TPE group than in the non-TPE group. Among 464 patients with healed ulcers, the proportion of subjects with re-ulceration was greater in the non-TPE group than in the TPE group (48.8% vs 6.5%; p<0.0001). Multivariate analysis showed that TPE can predict healing (odds ratio [OR], 4.202; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.604 to 11.004; p=0.0035) and may significantly reduce DFU recurrence (OR, 0.093; 95% CI, 0.043 to 0.201; p<0.0001) and mortality (OR, 0.096; 95% CI, 0.022 to 0.410; p=0.0016). Conclusion: A comprehensive TPE may have a positive impact on wound healing, ulcer recurrence and mortality in people with DFU.