Foot pathology and risk factors for diabetic foot disease in elderly men.

We examined 3 groups of elderly men; men with diabetes and previous or present foot ulcers, men with diabetes, and men without diabetes. In the foot diseased group, diabetes duration was longer (18 +/- 11 vs 8 +/- 7 years), insulin treatment was more common (86% vs 7%), fasting blood glucose and HbA1c were significantly higher (10.5 +/- 4.0 mmol/1, 8.4% +/- 1.6%) than in the diabetic control group (8.3 +/- 3.4 mmol/l, 7.4 +/- 1.7%). Men in the foot diseased group were taller than men in the diabetic group and non-diabetic men (1.79 vs 1.74 m) but not more obese (BMI 26-27 kg/m2 in all three groups). Current or previous alcoholic problems were more common in the foot diseased group (32%) compared to the control diabetic group (9%) and the non-diabetic group (10%). Diabetic patients with known foot disease had more often callosities, absent hair growth, dry skin and redness, compared to the other groups. Psychosocial problems (alcohol and divorce), long standing diabetes duration and poor metabolic control seem to be of importance for the development of diabetic foot ulcers.