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Prevention of Foot Ulcers in The At-Risk Patient With Diabetes: A Systematic Review
Prevention of Foot Ulcers in The At-Risk Patient With Diabetes: A Systematic Review
Introduction Methods
Foot ulcers are a major complication of diabetes mellitus, with The systematic review was performed according to the
high morbidity, mortality and resource utilization [1–3]. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and
Yearly incidence is estimated to be around 2%, and lifetime Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines [23]. The systematic
incidence lies between 15 and 25% [1]. Treatment of these review was prospectively registered in the PROSPERO
foot ulcers is challenging because of their multifactorial database for systematic reviews (CRD42014012964).
aetiology, and it places a high burden on patients, healthcare The population of interest for this systematic review
systems and society [1]. Even when an ulcer is successfully was persons with type 1 or 2 diabetes mellitus who are
healed, risk for recurrence is high, with reported rates at risk for foot ulceration. In accordance with the IWGDF
between 30 and 40% within the first year [4,5]. Therefore, definition, ‘at-risk’ was defined as ‘presence of peripheral
prevention of foot ulcers is of paramount importance and neuropathy, with or without a foot deformity or periph-
has long been recognized as a priority by the International eral artery disease, or a history of foot ulcer(s) or amputa-
Working Group on the Diabetic Foot (IWGDF). tion of (a part of) the foot or leg’ [1]. Primary outcomes
Not all patients with diabetes are at risk for ulceration. were first diabetic foot ulcer and recurrent diabetic foot
Based on a large number of retrospective and prospective ulcer. A diabetic foot ulcer was defined as a ‘full thickness
studies, risk factors for ulceration are defined in a variety lesion of the skin distal to the malleoli in a person with
of risk classification systems [1,6–9]. The key factors that diabetes mellitus’ [1]. ‘First ulcer’ was the first-ever
are present in each of these include peripheral neuropa- recorded diabetic foot ulcer in a patient. ‘Recurrent ulcer’
thy, foot deformity, peripheral vascular disease, previous was any foot ulcer after successful healing of a previous
foot ulceration and previous amputation of (a part of) one, irrespective of which foot or at what location on the
the foot or leg. In general, patients without any of these foot the ulcer recurred. We have reported first and recur-
risk factors are considered not to be at risk for ulceration. rent ulcer separately because patients with a previous ul-
The classification systems show similar diagnostic/ cer are considered at higher risk compared with those
prognostic results (such as sensitivity, specificity, predic- without [1,6], and consequently, these patients require
tive values and likelihood ratios) in predicting ulceration more preventative foot care. If a study included both
[10]. Despite the popularity and common use of these sys- patients with and without a previous ulcer and results
tems, the evidence base for their use is small, with little were not presented separately for first and recurrent
validation of their predictive ability [10]. A recent meta- ulcers, the primary outcome was ‘first/recurrent ulcer’.
analysis of prognostic factors for ulceration may help to Original research studies were included that reported
improve the level of evidence of risk classification for foot on interventions that had the goal to prevent a first or
ulceration [11]. recurrent foot ulcer in the population of interest. We de-
To prevent foot ulcers, various interventions have been fined three groups of interventions a priori and systemat-
studied and are used in clinical practice. The effectiveness ically reviewed the literature for each group separately in
of some of these interventions has been systematically order to structure the literature search and to distribute
reviewed, that is, on complex interventions [12], patient assignments among reviewers.
education [13], interventions studied in randomized
controlled trials [14], population-based screening [15], 1. Care: interventions aimed at improvements in care,
podiatry [16], therapeutic footwear [17], footwear and such as with podiatry, chiropody, multidisciplinary
offloading interventions [18], insoles [19], flexor care, integrated foot care, screening interventions to
tenotomy [20] and cost-effectiveness of interventions detect and treat patients at risk for diabetic foot ulcer-
[21]. However, all these reviews have used different inclu- ation, or interventions aimed at education of health
sion criteria for their study selection, non-uniform patient care professionals.
populations and a variety of outcomes, which limits com- 2. Self-management: interventions aimed at the self-
parison. Furthermore, none conducted a comprehensive management of patients, such as patient education,
analysis of all reported preventative measures. Such an home monitoring of foot status, or lifestyle interventions.
analysis is needed to properly inform caregivers about ef- 3. Medical: generally hospital-based interventions, such
fective preventative treatment. The aim of this systematic as surgery and therapeutic footwear.
review was to investigate the effectiveness of interven-
tions to prevent first and recurrent foot ulcers in persons We excluded studies on healthy subjects, on persons
with diabetes who are at-risk for ulceration and do not with diseases other than diabetes or on persons with dia-
have a current foot ulcer. This systematic review forms betes who are not at risk for foot ulceration. We only in-
the basis of the IWGDF guidance on prevention of foot ul- cluded studies of persons with active ulcers when these
cers in at-risk patients with diabetes [22]. studies reported outcomes on ulcer recurrence after
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Diabetes Metab Res Rev 2016; 32(Suppl. 1): 84–98.
DOI: 10.1002/dmrr
86 J. J. van Netten et al.
healing of the active ulcer. We excluded studies on inter- used to search for full-paper publications. If no full-paper
ventions with surrogate outcomes related to ulcer preven- copy of the study was found, we contacted the authors for
tion, for example, studies with results on foot care more information, to assess for any possible publication
behaviour, knowledge, and awareness, quality of life, pre- bias or selective reporting of results. Tracking of refer-
ulcerative lesions, plantar pressure or amputation only. ences of included publications was not performed.
We included systematic reviews and meta-analyses, To further assess for possible publication bias or
randomized controlled trials, non-randomized controlled selective reporting of results, the WHO-ICTRP trial
trials, case–control studies, cohort studies, (controlled) registry (http://apps.who.int/trialsearch/default.aspx)
before-and-after studies, interrupted time series, prospec- was searched on 30 July 2014. The Clinicaltrials.gov reg-
tive and retrospective non-controlled studies, cross- istry was also searched separately (https://clinicaltrials.
sectional studies and case series. We excluded case reports. gov) on 31 July 2014 (Appendix 5). Two reviewers
Before performing the systematic search of the litera- independently assessed identified trials for eligibility
ture, we created validation sets of approximately 20 pub- based on three criteria: patient group; outcomes; and in-
lications for each group of interventions. Each publication tervention. Reviewers retrieved the status of eligible trials
in the sets had to be identified in the literature search. The (‘completed’, ‘ongoing’ or ‘not yet started’) from the data-
validation set was created by first including key publica- bases. Cohen’s kappa was calculated for agreement.
tions known to the authors that fit the scope of this Reviewers solved disagreement concerning eligibility by
systematic review. Secondly, reference lists in these publi- discussion, until consensus was reached. Any relevant
cations and references to these publications were checked publication related to a completed trial was searched for
and key publications were included in the validation set. in the same databases as for the literature search. If no
Finally, the World Health Organization International Clin- publications were identified, the principal investigator of
ical Trials Registry Platform (WHO-ICTRP) (http://apps. the trial was contacted for more information.
who.int/trialsearch/default.aspx) was searched using We used the Scottish Intercollegiate Grouping Network
the search string (Diabet* AND ulcer* OR diabet* AND (SIGN) algorithm for classifying study design for
reulcer* OR diabet* AND amput). We screened identified questions of effectiveness (http://www.sign.ac.uk/pdf/
trials for relevance in relation to the scope of this review studydesign.pdf) to classify the study design for each pub-
and searched trial numbers and authors of relevant trials lication. The same two reviewers per intervention group
in PubMed to identify publications to be added to the independently assessed included publications with a con-
validation set. trolled study design for methodological quality (i.e. risk of
The literature search was performed on 24 July 2014, bias), using scoring sheets developed by the Dutch
covered publications in all languages and was not re- Cochrane Centre (www.cochrane.nl). Reviewers resolved
stricted by date. The following databases were searched: disagreement regarding risk of bias by discussion, until
PubMed, Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE) via Ovid consensus was reached. The SIGN level of evidence was
SP, Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health determined for each publication [24]. Level 1 refers to
Literature (CINAHL), Cochrane Database of Systematic randomized controlled trials and Level 2 refers to case–
Reviews, Cochrane Database of Abstracts of Reviews of control, cohort, controlled before-and-after designs or
Effect and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. interrupted time series. Risk of bias was scored for each
We prepared the search strings (online Appendix 1–4) for study as ++ (very low risk of bias), + (low risk of bias)
each database with the help of a clinical librarian. or – (high risk of bias). Data were extracted from each in-
For each of the three groups of interventions, two mem- cluded publication with a controlled study design and
bers of the working group independently reviewed publi- summarized in the evidence table. This table included
cations by title and abstract for eligibility to be included in patient and study characteristics, characteristics of the
the analysis, based on four criteria: population; study de- intervention and control conditions and primary and
sign; outcomes; and intervention. Cohen’s kappa was cal- secondary outcomes. One of the reviewers extracted the
culated for agreement between reviewers. Reviewers data; the other reviewer checked this for content and pre-
discussed and reached consensus on any disagreement sentation. All members of the working group thoroughly
on inclusion of publications. Publications identified in discussed the evidence table. Reviewers did not participate
more than one intervention group were discussed be- in the assessment, data extraction and discussion of publica-
tween all reviewers and further analysed within the tions of which they were a co-author, to prevent any conflict
intervention group for which the study best fitted. Subse- of interest.
quently, the same two reviewers independently assessed Finally, the two reviewers per group drew conclusions
full-paper copies of included publications on the same for each intervention based on the strength of the avail-
four criteria for final eligibility. Conference proceedings, able evidence. All members of the working group
if included after assessment of title and abstract, were discussed these conclusions, until consensus was reached.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Diabetes Metab Res Rev 2016; 32(Suppl. 1): 84–98.
DOI: 10.1002/dmrr
Prevention of Foot Ulcers in the at-risk Patient with Diabetes 87
Figure 1. PRISMA flow diagram. DARE = Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects; DSR = Database of Systematic Reviews;
CRCT = Central Register of Controlled Trials; WHO-ICTRP = World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Plat-
form. Note: publications could be identified in multiple groups; as such, the sum of the included publications in the four different
groups exceeds the total number of publications included for qualitative analysis
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Diabetes Metab Res Rev 2016; 32(Suppl. 1): 84–98.
DOI: 10.1002/dmrr
88
Table 1. Risk of bias of included publications
Reference Study Selection Intervention Outcome Outcome Withdrawal/ Selective loss Major confounders / Score
groups bias avoided/ clearly defined clearly defined assessed blind drop out to follow-up prognostic factors
defined excluded for exposure acceptable excluded identified and
(<20%) controlled
Foot care programmes
Dargis et al. [32] + + ? + + ? 4/8
Footwear and orthoses
Viswanathan et al. [62] ? + ? ? 1/8
Busch and Chantelau [63] + + ? + + ? 4/8
Reike et al. [64] + + + ? 3/8
Surgical interventions
Aszmann et al. [65] 0/8
Nickerson and Rader [66] + ? ? 1/8
Faglia et al. [79] + + + ? 3/8
Armstrong et al. [81] + + + ? ? ? 3/8
Armstrong et al. [87] + + ? ? 2/8
Vanlerberghe et al. [90] ? + + + ? 3/8
DOI: 10.1002/dmrr
J. J. van Netten et al.
no ulcers were presented in a 20-month retrospective received integrated foot care by a trained diabetes nurse,
analysis (3.46 consultations per patient) and an ulcer in 8% ulcer recurrence per year was found [34].
16.7% of patients in a 20-month prospective analysis
(0.23 consultations per patient) [26]. In 308 patients
who were followed for a mean 4.6 years, a significantly Self-management
lower ulcer incidence was present for those patients
adherent to integrated foot care compared with those We identified four RCTs on this topic.
who were not adherent: 0.2% vs 4.4% (p < 0.01) in a
lower-risk category and 0.5% vs 4.3% (p < 0.01) in a First ulcer
higher-risk category of patients [27]. No studies were identified.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Diabetes Metab Res Rev 2016; 32(Suppl. 1): 84–98.
DOI: 10.1002/dmrr
90 J. J. van Netten et al.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Diabetes Metab Res Rev 2016; 32(Suppl. 1): 84–98.
DOI: 10.1002/dmrr
Prevention of Foot Ulcers in the at-risk Patient with Diabetes 91
small cohort study with high risk of bias, found no benefit in 17–48 months follow-up after successful healing of a neu-
ulcer recurrence at 2 years between patients accepting the ropathic ulcer with Achilles tendon lengthening [72–77].
prescription of orthopaedic footwear and patients who did
not accept the prescription and wore their own shoes [64]. Single or pan metatarsal head resection
In all three cohort studies, selection bias cannot be ruled An RCT with low risk of bias by Piaggesi et al. assessed
out and may be an important determinant of outcome. ulcer recurrence at 6 months follow-up in 41 patients
who were treated for ulcer healing with either removal
of bone segments underlying the lesion or conservative
Surgical interventions treatment, that is, relief of weight-bearing and regular
dressing [78]. They found significantly fewer ulcers in
We identified nine controlled studies and 27 non- the surgical group: 14% vs 41%, p < 0.01. In a retrospec-
controlled studies on this topic. All studies evaluated the tive cohort study with high risk of bias, Faglia et al. found
effect on ulcer recurrence, except for one study on nerve in 207 patients no significant differences in recurrence
decompression. rates after a mean 40.6 months follow-up between those
patients treated for their ulcers with surgical bone re-
Nerve decompression moval of the toe or metatarsal head, or with minor
One retrospective cohort study by Aszmann et al. with amputation of the toe or ray [79]. A retrospective cohort
high risk of bias, in 50 patients with neuropathic pain study from Armstrong et al. [80], with low risk of bias,
without a previous ulcer, found a significantly lower ulcer found in 92 patients fewer recurrent ulcers at 1 year in
and amputation incidence over a mean 4.6 years follow- patients treated with pan metatarsal head resection
up in the affected leg treated with decompression of the compared with those conservatively treated for their
peroneal nerve than the contralateral control leg: 0 versus plantar forefoot ulcers (15.2% vs 39.1%, p = 0.02). More-
15 events (12 ulcers and three amputations); p < 0.001 over, fewer infections were found in the surgical group
[65]. A retrospective cohort study with high risk of bias (35.5% vs 64.5%, p = 0.047). A retrospective cohort study
by Nickerson and Rader, which assessed 42 patients with from Armstrong et al. [81], with high risk of bias, found
painful neuropathy and failed pharmacologic treatment significantly lower recurrence rates at 6 months follow-
for effect of nerve decompression in the previously up after healing in those patients treated with single
ulcerated foot, found that over a mean 35.8 months metatarsal head resection compared with those treated
follow-up, ulcer recurrence was significantly lower in the with conservative offloading treatment: 5% vs 28%
operated limb compared with the non-operated limb: (p = 0.04). One prospective and four retrospective non-
1.6 vs 7% per patient per year; p = 0.048 [66]. One retro- controlled studies on the effects of pan-metatarsal head
spective and two prospective non-controlled studies resection, including between 10 and 119 patients, pre-
presented low percentages of recurrent ulcers (2.6–4.3% sented between 0 and 41% recurrent ulcers after a mean
per patient year) after 1 to 5.5 years follow-up with 13.1 to 74 months follow-up [82–86].
decompression of the peroneal and tibial nerves in
diabetic patients with (symptomatic) peripheral neuropa- Metatarsophalangeal joint arthroplasty
thy and a previous ulcer [67–69]. One retrospective cohort study by Armstrong et al. with high
risk of bias in 41 patients, found that metatarsophalangeal
Achilles tendon lengthening joint arthroplasty of the great toe resulted in significantly
An RCT with low risk of bias from Mueller et al. found that fewer recurrent ulcers at 6 months follow-up than a total
patients who were treated with Achilles tendon lengthening, contact casting group, as a method to primarily treat plantar
in addition to total contact casting to heal their forefoot ul- foot ulcers (5% vs 35%, p = 0.02) [87].
cer, had significantly less recurrence at 7 months follow-up Two small non-controlled studies presented no recur-
than patients treated with total contact casting alone for rent ulcers at either 26 months or 2 to 5 years follow-up
their active ulcer: 15% vs 59%, p = 0.001 [70]. This differ- after primary healing in patients who underwent either
ence persisted at 2 years (38% vs 81%, p = 0.002). inter-phalangeal joint arthroplasty or resection of the
One non-controlled retrospective study compared 138 proximal phalanx of the great toe [88,89].
patients treated with Achilles tendon lengthening with
that of a historic cohort of 149 patients treated with Osteotomy
wound closure surgery for ulcer healing and presented A retrospective cohort study by Vanlerberghe et al. found
at a mean 3-year follow-up significantly fewer recurrences that osteotomy plus arthrodesis, primarily applied to heal
in the Achilles tendon lengthening group (2% vs 25%, metatarsal head ulcers, found a significantly lower rate of
p < 0.001), but significantly more transfer lesions (12% combined recurrence and amputation when compared with
vs 4%, p = 0.001) [71]. Several other non-controlled conservative treatment (7.5% vs 35.5%, p = 0.0013), al-
studies presented few recurrent ulcers (0–20%) during though data on recurrent ulcers alone were not significantly
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Diabetes Metab Res Rev 2016; 32(Suppl. 1): 84–98.
DOI: 10.1002/dmrr
92 J. J. van Netten et al.
different between groups (7.5% vs 18%, p = 0.14) [90]. One [25,28,29,31,32]. Integrated foot care differed between
non-controlled study presented no recurrent ulcers during studies, but always included callus removal, nail trim-
13 months follow-up in 21 patients who underwent ming, patient education, prescription of therapeutic foot-
osteotomy for healing of forefoot ulcers [91]. wear and advice on how to use the footwear. Frequency
of professional foot treatment varied from once per month
Digital flexor tendon tenotomy to once per 6 months.
Seven retrospective case series of percutaneous digital Only one study of low quality was found on the preven-
flexor tendon tenotomies performed in patients to heal tion of a first foot ulcer [25]; no relevant conclusions can
apex toe ulcers presented a recurrence rate between 0 therefore be drawn. No evidence was found to support
and 20% over a mean follow-up between 11 and integrated foot care to prevent a combination of first and
36 months in a total of 231 treated patients [92–98]. Four recurrent ulcers, with two RCTs showing no effectiveness
of the seven studies also assessed effects of digital [28,29]. However, adherence to the integrated foot care
tenotomy of a toe where no ulcer was present at the time provided was not taken into account in the two RCTs,
of the procedure, in a cumulative total of 58 patients with while non-controlled studies have shown that risk of ul-
impending ulcers (i.e. abundant callus on tip of the toe or ceration is lower when patients are more adherent
thickened nails) and presented no ulcer occurrence in a [26,27]. To prevent a recurrent ulcer, two controlled and
mean 11–31 months follow-up [91,92,94,95]. three non-controlled studies all reported lower ulcer per-
centages in patients who followed an integrated foot care
Tendon transfer and fascia release programme compared with those who did not, although
Two non-controlled studies from the same research one study only in a ‘per-foot’ analysis [26,31–34]. This
group, one on the effects of plantar fascia release in 60 pa- suggests that integrated foot care can effectively prevent
tients with forefoot ulcers and one on the effect of flexor ulcer recurrence.
hallucis longus tendon transfer in nine patients with plan- All reported integrated foot care programmes lacked
tar heel ulcers, presented no ulcer recurrence after sufficient detail on the treatment given, which limits
24 months follow-up [99,100]. reproducibility of the study findings, translation to other
settings than those studied and analysis of the part(s) of
the care that drive the outcomes. Additionally, limited
Discussion description of patient education and therapeutic footwear
hinders comparison with studies on these specific topics
In this systematic review, we searched the literature for [5,43]. Future studies should describe integrated foot
publications on interventions to prevent first and recur- care in more detail.
rent foot ulcers in persons with diabetes who are at risk
for ulceration, without limits on publication date,
language or study design (except for case reports). The Self-management
systematic review was not limited to specific categories
of interventions, to enable optimal comparison between Self-management is important in the context of foot ulcer
interventions and provide a comprehensive overview of prevention, as foot ulcers nearly always develop outside
the evidence in this important field of diabetic foot care. the clinical setting. However, only four controlled studies
Thirty controlled studies, including nineteen RCTs, were on self-management were identified, all aimed at improv-
reviewed. A further 44 non-controlled studies were addi- ing daily foot care behaviour [35–38]. We found no
tionally described. The methodological quality of the support for the daily use of antifungal nail lacquer as a
controlled studies assessed varied, with 13 studies with surrogate to help improve frequency of foot inspection
(very) low risk of bias and 17 studies with high risk of and early recognition of foot problems to prevent foot
bias. The evidence base to support some interventions is ulcers [35]. In contrast, we found strong support for the
quite strong and based on several high-quality RCTs, home-monitoring of foot skin temperature, with subse-
whereas more high-quality controlled studies are required quent preventative actions taken when abnormal temper-
for other interventions. atures are recorded, to prevent first or recurrent foot
ulcers. This is based on the results of three high-quality
RCTs from the same research group that were conducted
Integrated foot care in three different clinical settings [36–38]. Foot tempera-
ture monitoring provides instantaneous and clinically
In most studied integrated foot care programmes, the key meaningful feedback on the risk of ulceration. Patient ad-
responsible professional was a podiatrist or chiropodist, herence to the daily measurement of foot temperature
who worked alone or in a multidisciplinary setting proved to be an important component in clinical outcome
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Diabetes Metab Res Rev 2016; 32(Suppl. 1): 84–98.
DOI: 10.1002/dmrr
Prevention of Foot Ulcers in the at-risk Patient with Diabetes 93
[38], and therefore should be monitored adequately in obvious, there is at least evidence that now supports this
studies. These positive findings require confirmation in basic tenet of foot care. Two RCTs with very low risk of
well-designed studies by other research groups in other bias found that, in contrast to using just foot shape and
regions of the world, in which cost-effectiveness and clinical opinion in footwear prescription, directly measur-
feasibility of implementation are also addressed, as this ing the plantar pressure under the foot can improve the
approach is currently not implemented in foot care. Tech- efficacy of the resulting footwear [5,57]. In one case, an
nological advancements in the monitoring of foot temper- algorithm based on foot shape and barefoot plantar pres-
ature that reduce the user burden, such as with automatic sure was used in shoe insole design [57], while in the
detection of impending problems, may improve practical second study, in-shoe plantar pressure was used to guide
use of the approach. the adjustment of the foot–shoe interface to lower
pressure in key ‘at-risk’ regions of the foot, which proved
effective if the footwear was worn by the patient for most
Patient education of their steps during the day [5].
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Diabetes Metab Res Rev 2016; 32(Suppl. 1): 84–98.
DOI: 10.1002/dmrr
94 J. J. van Netten et al.
perform, as surgery is sometimes a last-resort approach the IWGDF [1], are strongly recommended, together
after failed conservative treatment, without a possibility with a clear description of methods for assessing
to randomize patients. Nevertheless, more controlled, outcomes. Furthermore, although a very important
high-quality studies are needed before definitive state- outcome, amputation was not considered as a primary
ments can be made about the safety and efficacy of outcome in this systematic review, because amputation
surgical interventions to prevent ulcer recurrence. is an elective procedure and not a natural outcome
from an intervention. Amputation also depends largely
on ulcer treatment, and is therefore not a specific out-
Other considerations come for prevention in the non-ulcerated foot. As a
consequence, the existing population-based studies
Several issues related to this systematic review need to be on the effect of a preventative foot care programme
considered. in a multidisciplinary foot clinic on amputation preven-
First, the population of interest was persons with diabe- tion (e.g. [115,116]) were not considered.
tes at-risk for foot ulceration, because these patients are Fourth, a key aspect of prevention that plays a criti-
entitled to preventative foot care in most countries with cal role in outcome is treatment adherence. Studies on
developed healthcare systems and are expected to benefit different interventions assessed for this systematic re-
more from preventative interventions than patients who view consistently report that those patients who do
are not at risk [1,6]. Studies were excluded if information not adhere to an intervention present with significantly
on clinical presentation to define ‘at-risk’ was insufficient worse outcomes [5,26,27,33,38–40]. Future interven-
or if the ‘at-risk’ population was not specifically analysed. tion studies should incorporate a measure of treatment
For example, the article on patient education by Malone adherence, preferably objective, and investigate ways
et al. [106] provided no information on ulcer healing in to improve adherence.
their study population of patients with an active foot ul- Finally, the overall quality of studies on interventions
cer, yet this information is essential to adequately assess to prevent a foot ulcer in at-risk patients with diabetes
ulcer recurrence. Another example is the study on foot should further improve, so that stronger recommenda-
screening and treatment by McCabe et al. [107]. This tions for clinical practice can be made. Studies should
study provides no information on the number of high-risk conduct a power analysis, ensure adequate blinding
patients in the control group, and outcomes are not whenever possible and use intention-to-treat analysis.
presented specifically for persons at risk. Other studies More clarity is required in description of study
focused on a population with specific comorbidities, such populations, interventions, outcomes and outcome
as chronic kidney disease requiring dialysis treatment assessment. In addition, more focus should be put on
[108,109]. Even though foot ulcer risk is high in this pop- cost-effectiveness studies, as we continue to operate in
ulation [110,111], the lack of specific reporting of findings financially challenging times.
for the patients at risk limits assessment of effectiveness of
an intervention for at-risk patients. For similar reasons,
we did not assess the efficacy of lifestyle interventions
[112] or intensified glucose treatment [113], as they target Conclusions
a general population of patients with diabetes mellitus. We
strongly advocate for the reporting of results in intervention This systematic review of the literature shows that the
studies that are specific for the population at risk. evidence base to support the use of interventions that
Second, risk factors for ulcer development and ulcer aim to prevent a first foot ulcer in the at-risk patient with
risk classification systems were not analysed and de- diabetes is practically nonexistent. More data are avail-
scribed in this systematic review on interventions. Despite able on the prevention of a recurrent foot ulcer, with
the importance of this topic, ulcer risk classification is strong evidence supporting the home-monitoring of foot
only considered an intervention when a classification is skin temperatures with subsequent preventative actions
linked directly to a strategy based on referral of patients and the use of therapeutic footwear with demonstrated
for treatment [114]. No studies on such an intervention pressure-relieving effect that is consistently worn by the
in the at-risk diabetic patient were identified. It remains patient. Furthermore, there is some evidence to suggest
crucial to better understand if the way in which we clas- that prevention of a recurrent foot ulcer by means of
sify risk is effective for ulcer prevention. integrated foot care is effective. There is no evidence to
Third, clear definitions and assessment methods for our support a session of patient education for the prevention
primary outcome ‘first or recurrent ulcer’ were lacking in of a recurrent foot ulcer. While a limited number of stud-
many studies. The use and reporting of a standardized ies show a benefit of surgical intervention in the preven-
definition for diabetic foot ulcers, such as provided by tion of ulcer recurrence in selected patient groups, no
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Diabetes Metab Res Rev 2016; 32(Suppl. 1): 84–98.
DOI: 10.1002/dmrr
Prevention of Foot Ulcers in the at-risk Patient with Diabetes 95
definitive conclusions can yet be drawn about efficacy and management interventions’ and critically reviewed and
safety. More high-quality controlled studies are needed edited the manuscript. L. L. assessed the literature,
in these areas, in particular related to prevention of a first extracted data and drew conclusions within ‘care inter-
foot ulcer, patient education, self-management and sur- ventions’ and critically reviewed the manuscript. M. M.
gical interventions, so to better inform clinicians and assessed the literature, extracted data and drew conclu-
practitioners about effective preventative treatment. sions within ‘self-management interventions’ and criti-
cally reviewed the manuscript. A. R. assessed the
literature, extracted data and drew conclusions within
Acknowledgements ‘medical interventions’ and critically reviewed the manu-
script. Y. J. assessed the literature, extracted data and
The authors gratefully acknowledge the help from Joost Daams,
drew conclusions within ‘medical interventions’ and criti-
MA, clinical librarian from the Academic Medical Centre,
cally reviewed the manuscript. S. B. designed the search
Amsterdam, the Netherlands, for his help with designing the
search strings and performing the literature search. The contri- strings, assessed the literature, extracted data and drew
bution of Matilde Monteiro-Soares has been sponsored by conclusions within ‘medical interventions’ and wrote the
“Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT)”, Portugal; Grant manuscript. J. vN. acted as the secretary of the working
number: SFRH/BD/86201/2. group, S. B. as the chair of the working group.
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Supporting information
Table 2 (evidence table) and the search strategy can be downloaded as supplements from the publisher’s website.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Diabetes Metab Res Rev 2016; 32(Suppl. 1): 84–98.
DOI: 10.1002/dmrr