Complication rate among people with diabetes at low risk of foot ulceration in Fife, UK: an analysis of routinely collected data.

AIMS: To estimate the rate at which people with diabetes and a low risk of foot ulceration change diabetic foot ulceration risk status over time, and to estimate the rate of ulceration, amputation and death among this population. METHODS: We conducted an observational study of 10 421 people with diabetes attending foot screening in an outpatient setting in NHS Fife, UK, using routinely collected data from a national diabetes register, NHS SCI Diabetes. We estimated the proportion of people who changed risk status and the cumulative incidence of ulceration, amputation and death, respectively, among people with diabetes at low risk of diabetic foot ulceration at 2-year follow-up. RESULTS: At 2-year follow-up, 5.1% (95% CI 4.7, 5.6) of people with diabetes classified as low risk at their first visit had progressed to moderate risk. The cumulative incidence of ulceration, amputation and death was 0.4% (95% CI 0.3, 0.6), 0.1% (95% CI 0.1, 0.2) and 3.4% (95% CI 3.1, 3.8), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: At 2-year follow-up, 5% of people at low risk of diabetic foot ulceration changed clinical risk status and <1% of people experienced foot ulceration or amputation. These findings provide information which will help to inform the current debate regarding optimal foot screening intervals.

Incident ischaemic stroke and Type 2 diabetes: trends in incidence and case fatality in Scotland 2004-2013.

AIM: To describe trends in first ischaemic stroke incidence and case fatality in adults with and without a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes prior to their ischaemic stroke event in Scotland between 2004 and 2013. METHODS: Using population-wide hospital admission, death and diabetes datasets, we conducted a retrospective cohort study. Negative binomial and logistic regression models were used to calculate year-specific incidence and case-fatality rates for people with Type 2 diabetes and for people without diabetes. RESULTS: During 41.0 million person-years of follow-up there were 69 757 ischaemic stroke events. Type 2 diabetes prevalence among patients who experienced ischaemic stroke increased from 13.5% to 20.3% between 2004 and 2013. Stroke incidence rates declined by 2.7% (95% CI 2.4, 3.0) annually for people with and without diabetes [diabetes/year interaction: rate ratio 0.99 (95% CI 0.98, 1.01)]. Type 2 diabetes was associated with an increased risk of ischaemic stroke in men [rate ratio 1.23 (95% CI 1.17, 1.30)] and women [rate ratio 1.41 (95% CI 1.35, 1.48)]. Case-fatality rates were 14.2% and 12.7% in people with Type 2 diabetes and without diabetes, respectively. Case fatality declined by 3.5% (95% CI 2.7, 4.5) annually [diabetes/year interaction: odds ratio 1.01 (95% CI 0.98, 1.02)]. CONCLUSIONS: Ischaemic stroke incidence declined no faster in people with a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes than in people without diabetes. Increasing prevalence of Type 2 diabetes among stroke patients may mean that declines in case fatality over time will be less marked in the future.

Risk of diabetic retinopathy at first screen in children at 12 and 13 years of age.

AIMS: To investigate the relationships between age at diagnosis of diabetes, age at diabetic eye screening and severity of diabetic retinopathy at first and subsequent screenings in children aged 12 or 13 years. METHODS: Data were extracted from four English screening programmes and from the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish programmes on all children with diabetes invited for their first and subsequent screening episodes from the age of 12 years. Retinopathy levels at first and subsequent screens, time from diagnosis of diabetes to first screening and age at diagnosis in years were calculated. RESULTS: Data were available for 2125 children with diabetes screened for the first time at age 12 or 13 years. In those diagnosed with diabetes at 2 years of age or less, the proportion with retinopathy in one or both eyes was 20% and 11%, respectively, decreasing to 8% and 2% in those diagnosed between 2 and 12 years (P < 0.0001). Only three children (aged 8, 10 and 11 years at diagnosis of diabetes) had images graded with referable retinopathy and, of these, two had non-referable diabetic retinopathy at all subsequent screenings. Of 1703 children with subsequent images, 25 were graded with referable diabetic retinopathy over a mean follow-up of 3.1 years, an incidence rate of 4.7 (95% confidence interval, 3.1-7.0) per 1000 per year. CONCLUSIONS: In this large cohort of children, the low prevalence and incidence rates of referable diabetic retinopathy suggest that screening earlier than age 12 is not necessary.

Screening attendance, age group and diabetic retinopathy level at first screen.

AIMS: To report on the relationships between age at diagnosis of diabetes, time from registration with the screening programme to first diabetic eye screening and severity of diabetic retinopathy. METHODS: Data were extracted from four English screening programmes and from the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish programmes. Time from diagnosis of diabetes to first screening and age at diagnosis were calculated. RESULTS: Time from registration with the screening programme to first screening episode is strongly related to age at registration. Within 18 months of registration 89% of 3958 young people under 18 years of age and 81% of 391 293 people over 35 years of age were seen. In 19 058 people between 18 and 34 years of age, 80% coverage was not reached until 2 years and 9 months. The time from diagnosis of diabetes to first screening is positively associated with severity of disease (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: This report is the first that to demonstrate that those in the 18-34 year age group are least likely to attend promptly for screening after registration with a higher risk of referable diabetic retinopathy being present at the time of first screen. Date of diagnosis should be recorded and prodigious efforts made to screen all people promptly after diagnosis. Screening programmes should collect data on those who have not attended within one year of registration.

Modelling the cost-effectiveness of adopting risk-stratified approaches to extended screening intervals in the national diabetic retinopathy screening programme in Scotland.

AIMS: To assess the cost-effectiveness of adopting risk-stratified approaches to extended screening intervals in the national diabetic retinopathy screening programme in Scotland. METHODS: A continuous-time hidden Markov model was fitted to national longitudinal screening data to derive transition probabilities between observed non-referable and referable retinopathy states. These were incorporated in a decision model simulating progression, costs and visual acuity outcomes for a synthetic cohort with a covariate distribution matching that of the Scottish diabetic screening population. The cost-effectiveness of adopting extended (2-year) screening for groups with no observed retinopathy was then assessed over a 30-year time horizon. RESULTS: Individuals with a current grade of no retinopathy on two consecutive screening episodes face the lowest risk of progressing to referable disease. For the cohort as a whole, the incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year gained for annual vs. biennial screening ranged from approximately £74 000 (for those with no retinopathy and a prior observed grade of mild or observable background retinopathy) to approximately £232 000 per quality-adjusted life year gained (for those with no retinopathy on two consecutive screening episodes). The corresponding incremental cost-effectiveness ratios in the subgroup with Type 1 diabetes were substantially lower; approximately £22 000 to £85 000 per quality-adjusted life year gained, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Biennial screening for individuals with diabetes who have no retinopathy is likely to deliver significant savings for a very small increase in the risk of adverse visual acuity and quality of life outcomes. There is greater uncertainty regarding the long-term cost-effectiveness of adopting biennial screening in younger people with Type 1 diabetes.

Factors associated with statin treatment for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in people within 2 years following diagnosis of diabetes in Scotland, 2006-2008.

AIM: To describe characteristics associated with statin prescribing for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in people with newly diagnosed diabetes. METHODS: Data from the Scottish Care Information-Diabetes Collaboration data set for 2006-2008 were used. This data set contains socio-demographic and prescribing data for over 99% of people with diagnosed diabetes in Scotland. Analyses were conducted on people aged over 40 years diagnosed with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes between 2006 and 2008 with complete data and no previous history of cardiovascular or statin prescription. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios for statin prescription in the 2 years following diagnosis of diabetes. RESULTS: There were 7157 men and 5601 women who met the inclusion criteria, 68% of whom had a statin prescription recorded in the 2 years following diagnosis of diabetes. The proportions receiving statins were lower above 65 years of age in men and 75 years of age in women. People with Type 1 diabetes had lower odds of receiving statins than people with Type 2 diabetes [odds ratio (95% CI) 0.42 (0.29-0.61) for men and 0.48 (0.28-0.81) for women, after adjustment for age, BMI, smoking status, cholesterol level and deprivation]. Higher total cholesterol, BMI and being a current smoker were associated with greater odds of statin prescription. CONCLUSION: Approximately one third of the study population had no record of statin prescription during the 2 years after diagnosis of diabetes. Cardiovascular disease risk reduction opportunities may be missed in some of these people.

Type 2 diabetes, socioeconomic status and risk of cancer in Scotland 2001-2007.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The objective of this study was to use Scottish national data to assess the influence of type 2 diabetes on the risk of cancer at 16 different sites, while specifically investigating the role of confounding by socioeconomic status in the diabetes-cancer relationship. METHODS: All people in Scotland aged 55-79 years diagnosed with any of the cancers of interest during the period 2001-2007 were identified and classified by the presence/absence of co-morbid type 2 diabetes. The influence of diabetes on cancer risk for each site was assessed via Poisson regression, initially with adjustment for age only, then adjusted for both age and socioeconomic status. RESULTS: There were 4,285 incident cancers in people with type 2 diabetes. RR for any cancers (adjusted for age only) was 1.11 (95% CI 1.05, 1.17) for men and 1.33 (1.28, 1.40) for women. Corresponding values after additional adjustment for socioeconomic status were 1.10 (1.04, 1.15) and 1.31 (1.25, 1.38), respectively. RRs for individual cancer sites varied markedly. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Socioeconomic status was found to have little influence on the association between type 2 diabetes and cancer.

Predicted impact of extending the screening interval for diabetic retinopathy: the Scottish Diabetic Retinopathy Screening programme.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of our study was to identify subgroups of patients attending the Scottish Diabetic Retinopathy Screening (DRS) programme who might safely move from annual to two yearly retinopathy screening. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of screening data from the DRS programme collected between 2005 and 2011 for people aged ≥12 years with type 1 or type 2 diabetes in Scotland. We used hidden Markov models to calculate the probabilities of transitions to referable diabetic retinopathy (referable background or proliferative retinopathy) or referable maculopathy. RESULTS: The study included 155,114 individuals with no referable diabetic retinopathy or maculopathy at their first DRS examination and with one or more further DRS examinations. There were 11,275 incident cases of referable diabetic eye disease (9,204 referable maculopathy, 2,071 referable background or proliferative retinopathy). The observed transitions to referable background or proliferative retinopathy were lower for people with no visible retinopathy vs mild background retinopathy at their prior examination (respectively, 1.2% vs 8.1% for type 1 diabetes and 0.6% vs 5.1% for type 2 diabetes). The lowest probability for transitioning to referable background or proliferative retinopathy was among people with two consecutive screens showing no visible retinopathy, where the probability was <0.3% for type 1 and <0.2% for type 2 diabetes at 2 years. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Transition rates to referable diabetic eye disease were lowest among people with type 2 diabetes and two consecutive screens showing no visible retinopathy. If such people had been offered two yearly screening the DRS service would have needed to screen 40% fewer people in 2009.

Should diabetes retinal screening intervals change?

There is accumulating evidence that the natural history of diabetic eye disease is sufficiently slow that 2-yearly retinal screening, or even longer, may be safe for some patients with diabetes. The information technology underpinning call-recall systems within screening programmes permits a more sophisticated approach to organizing retinal screening, as directed by the clinical evidence. This commentary explores the evidence for moving towards a biennial retinal screening programme for patients with Type 2 diabetes and diabetes duration of less than 10 years. Such an approach may allow capacity to introduce 6-monthly screening for high-risk patients, a targeted approach to recurrent defaulters and possible introduction of new aspects of screening such as optical coherence tomography, in addition to accommodating for the expanding number of patients with diabetes. A UK-four nations group is now critically looking at the evidence for any such changes.

Impact of health-care accessibility and social deprivation on diabetes related foot disease.

AIMS: To determine whether geography and/or social deprivation influences the occurrence of foot ulcers or amputations in patients with diabetes. METHODS: A population-based cohort of people with diabetes (n = 15 983) were identified between 2004 and 2006. Community and hospital data on diabetes care, podiatry care and onset of ulceration and amputation was linked using a unique patient identifier, which is used for all patient contacts with health-care professionals. Postcode was used to calculate social deprivation and distances to general practice and hospital care. RESULTS: Over 3 years' follow-up 670 patients with diabetes developed new foot ulcers (42 per 1000) and 99 proceeded to amputation (6 per 1000). The most deprived quintile had a 1.7-fold (95% CI 1.2-2.3) increased risk of developing a foot ulcer. Distance from general practitioner or hospital clinic and lack of attendance at community retinal screening did not predict foot ulceration or amputation. Previous ulcer (OR 15.1, 95% CI 11.6-19.6), insulin use (OR 2.7, 95% CI 2.1-3.5), absent foot pulses (5.9: 4.7-7.5) and impaired monofilament sensation (OR 6.5, 95% CI 5.0-8.4) all predicted foot ulceration. Previous foot ulcer, absent pulses and impaired monofilaments also predicted amputation. CONCLUSION: Social deprivation is an important factor, especially for the development of foot ulcers. Geographical aspects such as accessibility to the general practitioner or hospital clinic are not associated with foot ulceration or amputation in this large UK cohort study.

The Tayside insulin management course: an effective education programme in type 1 diabetes.

AIMS: The Tayside insulin management (TIM) course is an intensive insulin management programme for adults with type 1 diabetes. The aim was to assess its effectiveness. METHODS: Haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and body mass index (BMI) from individuals with type 1 diabetes were collected 3 months before, and 6 and 24 months after the programme. The programme involved a full day of education per week for 4 weeks in a row. Quality of life was assessed using the standardised Audit of Diabetes-Dependent Quality of Life (ADDQoL) questionnaire completed both before and 3 months after the course. Subjects were also asked to complete a pre- and postcourse questionnaire gathering information about aspects of their diabetes management. In addition, individual satisfaction with course content and delivery was recorded. RESULTS: Participants had a median reduction in haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) of 4 mmol/mol (0.4%) after 6 months and 5 mmol/mol (0.5%) 2 years after the course (p < 0.001). Mean daily dose of short-acting insulin decreased from 31.5 (1.9) units to 27.3 (1.9, p < 0.001). There was no significant change in BMI. There was an improvement in all 18 domains of the ADDQoL questionnaire. There was a decrease in hypoglycaemia unawareness from 34.3 ± 47.8% of patients to 8.6 ± 28% (p < 0.001), and a decrease in self-reported lipohypertrophy from 27.8% to 11.1% (p = 0.001). There was a significant reduction in the mean number of diabetic ketoacidosis and severe hypoglycaemic episodes. The number of blood glucose checks changed from 2.8 ± 2.1 to 3.2 ± 1.1 (p = 0.058) per day. Participant satisfaction with all aspects of course content and delivery was high. CONCLUSIONS: TIM is an effective intensive education programme for patients with type 1 diabetes.

Calcium requests in a primary care; An observational audit of biochemical requests and frequency of abnormal results.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This aim of this audit was to assess the extent of serum calcium testing and the frequency of hypercalcaemia in the primary care setting. We also assessed the appropriateness of subsequent investigations with repeat serum calcium and PTH testing if hypercalcaemia was identified. METHODS: All laboratory requests for adjusted calcium and PTH samples sent from primary care in Glasgow were analysed over a 12 month period. This covered approximately 125 GP practices and a patient population of over 590,000. RESULTS: There were 78,845 requests for adjusted calcium and 2053 PTH requests from 62,745 patients aged 16-105 years (median age 57, IQ range 30 years). Of these requests 1423 (2.3%) of patients had biochemical evidence of hypercalcaemia (adjusted calcium ≥ 2.61 mmol/L). Of the 1423 patients with hypercalcaemia, 368 patients (45.8%) had a single raised calcium level that was within the normal range on repeat testing. Of the 400 patients with persistent hypercalcaemia on 2 or more samples, 210 (52.5%) had a PTH measured. Eight patients had a PTH < 2.0 pmol/L, whilst 202 (96.1%) had a PTH ≥ 2.0 pmol/L (range 2.1-106.1 pmol/L). CONCLUSIONS: Serum calcium was checked in 10.6% of the population per year within primary care. In the 2.4% with a raised calcium on initial testing, approximately half (45.8%) will normalise on repeat testing. Of those who remained persistently hypercalcaemic, only half (52.5%) had a PTH measured and the majority (96.1%) were in keeping with primary hyperparathyroidism being the most common cause of hypercalcaemia.

The effect of deprivation and HbA1c on admission to hospital for diabetic ketoacidosis in type 1 diabetes.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Diabetic ketoacidosis is a potentially life-threatening complication of diabetes and has a strong relationship with HbA(1c). We examined how socioeconomic group affects the likelihood of admission to hospital for diabetic ketoacidosis. METHODS: The Scottish Care Information - Diabetes Collaboration (SCI-DC), a dynamic national register of all cases of diagnosed diabetes in Scotland, was linked to national data on hospital admissions. We identified 24,750 people with type 1 diabetes between January 2005 and December 2007. We assessed the relationship between HbA(1c) and quintiles of deprivation with hospital admissions for diabetic ketoacidosis in people with type 1 diabetes adjusting for patient characteristics. RESULTS: We identified 23,479 people with type 1 diabetes who had complete recording of covariates. Deprivation had a substantial effect on odds of admission to hospital for diabetic ketoacidosis (OR 4.51, 95% CI 3.73, 5.46 in the most deprived quintile compared with the least deprived). This effect persisted after the inclusion of HbA(1c) and other risk factors (OR 2.81, 95% CI 2.32, 3.39). Men had a reduced risk of admission to hospital for diabetic ketoacidosis (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.63, 0.79) and those with a history of smoking had increased odds of admission to hospital for diabetic ketoacidosis by a factor of 1.55 (95% CI 1.36, 1.78). CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Women, smokers, those with high HbA(1c) and those living in more deprived areas have an increased risk of admission to hospital for diabetic ketoacidosis. The effect of deprivation was present even after inclusion of other risk factors. This work highlights that those in poorer areas of the community with high HbA(1c) represent a group who might be usefully supported to try to reduce hospital admissions.

Area-based socioeconomic status, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular mortality in Scotland.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between type 2 diabetes mellitus, area-based socioeconomic status (SES) and cardiovascular disease mortality in Scotland. METHODS: We used an area-based measure of SES, Scottish national diabetes register data linked to mortality records, and general population cause-specific mortality data to investigate the relationships between SES, type 2 diabetes and mortality from ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and cerebrovascular disease (CbVD), for 2001-2007. We used negative binomial regression to obtain age-adjusted RRs of mortality (by sex), comparing people with type 2 diabetes with the non-diabetic population. RESULTS: Among 216,652 people aged 40 years or older with type 2 diabetes (980,687 person-years), there were 10,554 IHD deaths and 4,378 CbVD deaths. Age-standardised mortality increased with increasing deprivation, and was higher among men. IHD mortality RRs were highest among the least deprived quintile and lowest in the most deprived quintile (men: least deprived, RR 1.94 [95% CI 1.61, 2.33]; most deprived, RR 1.46 [95% CI 1.23, 1.74]) and were higher in women than men (women: least deprived, RR 2.84 [95% CI 2.12, 3.80]; most deprived, RR 2.04 [95% CI 1.55, 2.69]). A similar, weaker, pattern was observed for cerebrovascular mortality. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Absolute risk of cardiovascular mortality is higher in people with diabetes than in the non-diabetic population and increases with increasing deprivation. The relative impact of diabetes on cardiovascular mortality differs by SES, and further efforts to reduce cardiovascular risk both in deprived groups and people with diabetes are required. Prevention of diabetes may reduce socioeconomic health inequalities.

Diabetic retinopathy at diagnosis of type 2 diabetes in Scotland.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of and risk factors for diabetic retinopathy in people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus, using Scottish national data. METHODS: We identified individuals diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Scotland between January 2005 and May 2008 using data from the national diabetes database. We calculated the prevalence of retinopathy and ORs for risk factors associated with retinopathy at first screening. RESULTS: Of the 51,526 people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus identified, 91.4% had been screened by 31 December 2010. The median time to first screening was 315 days (interquartile range [IQR] 111-607 days), but by 2008 the median was 83 days (IQR 51-135 days). The prevalence at first screening of any retinopathy was 19.3%, and for referable retinopathy it was 1.9%. For individuals screened after a year the prevalence of any retinopathy was 20.5% and referable retinopathy was 2.3%. Any retinopathy at screening was associated with male sex (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.14, 1.25), HbA(1c) (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.06, 1.08 per 1% [11 mmol/mol] increase), systolic BP (OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.05, 1.08 per 10 mmHg increase), time to screening (OR for screening >1 year post diagnosis = 1.12, 95% CI 1.07, 1.17) and obesity (OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.82, 0.93) in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: The prevalence of retinopathy at first screening is lower than in previous UK studies, consistent with earlier diagnosis of diabetes. Most newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients in Scotland are screened within an acceptable interval and the prevalence of referable disease is low, even in those with delayed screening.

Hospitalised hip fracture risk with rosiglitazone and pioglitazone use compared with other glucose-lowering drugs.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Current drug labels for thiazolidinediones (TZDs) warn of increased fractures, predominantly for distal fractures in women. We examined whether exposure to TZDs affects hip fracture in women and men and compared the risk to that found with other drugs used in diabetes. METHODS: Using a nationwide database of prescriptions, hospital admissions and deaths in those with type 2 diabetes in Scotland we calculated TZD exposure among 206,672 individuals. Discrete-time failure analysis was used to model the effect of cumulative drug exposure on hip fracture during 1999-2008. RESULTS: There were 176 hip fractures among 37,479 exposed individuals. Hip fracture risk increased with cumulative exposure to TZD: OR per year of exposure 1.18 (95% CI 1.09, 1.28; p = 3 × 10(-5)), adjusted for age, sex and calendar month. Hip fracture increased with cumulative exposure in both men (OR 1.20; 95% CI 1.03, 1.41) and women (OR 1.18; 95% CI 1.07, 1.29) and risks were similar for pioglitazone (OR 1.18) and rosiglitazone (OR 1.16). The association was similar when adjusted for exposure to other drugs for diabetes and for other potential confounders. There was no association of hip fracture with cumulative exposure to sulfonylureas, metformin or insulin in this analysis. The 90-day mortality associated with hip fractures was similar in ever-users of TZD (15%) and in never-users (13%). CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Hip fracture is a severe adverse effect with TZDs, affecting both sexes; labels should be changed to warn of this. The excess mortality is at least as much as expected from the reported association of pioglitazone with bladder cancer.

Do men develop type 2 diabetes at lower body mass indices than women?

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: To describe the associations between age, sex and BMI at diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, and test the hypothesis that men are diagnosed with diabetes at lower average BMI than women of similar age. METHODS: Linear regression was used to estimate and compare the relationship between age and BMI at diagnosis among 51,920 men and 43,137 women included in a population-based diabetes register in Scotland for whom an index BMI measurement was taken within 1 year of diabetes diagnosis. We also examined HbA(1c) values by sex within the same timescale. RESULTS: Mean BMI closest to date of diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus was 31.83 kg/m(2) (SD 5.13) in men and 33.69 kg/m(2) (SD 6.43) in women. The inverse relationship between age and BMI at diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus was significantly steeper in women than in men (slope estimate in men -0.12 kg/m(2) per year [95% CI -0.13, -0.12] women -0.18 kg/m(2) per year [95% CI -0.18, -0.17], p < 0.0001 for formal test of interaction). Mean BMI difference was most marked at younger ages and narrowed with advancing age. However, HbA(1c) levels within 1 year of diagnoses were broadly similar in men and women. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Men are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at lower BMI than women across the age range. This observation may help explain why type 2 diabetes is more common among middle-aged men in populations of European extraction. Whether the same pattern is also observed in other ethnic groups requires confirmation.

Measuring the accuracy of different ways to identify the 'at-risk' foot in routine clinical practice.

AIMS: We aimed to identify which individual risk factors best predict foot ulceration in routine clinical practice and whether an integrated clinical tool is a better screening tool for future foot ulceration. METHODS: Routinely collected clinical information on foot and general diabetes indicators were recorded on the regional diabetes electronic register. Follow-up data on foot ulceration were collected from the same electronic record, the local multidisciplinary foot clinic and community and hospital podiatry paper records. Data were electronically linked to see which criteria best predicted future foot ulceration. RESULTS: Foot risk scores were recorded on 3719 patients (44% female, mean age 59±15years) across community and hospital clinics. Overall, 851 (22.9%) had insensitivity to monofilaments, in 629 (17.2%) both pulses were absent and 184 (4.9%) had a prior ulcer. In multivariate analysis, the strongest predictors of foot ulceration were prior ulcer, insulin treatment, absent monofilaments, structural abnormality and proteinuria and retinopathy. The sensitivity of predicting foot ulceration was 52% for prior ulcer, 61% for absent monofilaments, 75% for 'high risk' on an integrated risk score and 91% for high and moderate risk combined. The corresponding specificities were 99, 81, 89 and 61%. Positive likelihood ratio was 52 for prior ulcer and 6.8 for foot risk, with negative likelihood ratios of 0.48 and 0.15, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Integrated foot risk scores are more sensitive than individual clinical criteria in predicting future foot ulceration and are likely to be better screening tools, where excluding false negative results is of paramount importance.

Assessment of the under-reporting of diabetes in hospital admission data: a study from the Scottish Diabetes Research Network Epidemiology Group.

AIMS: Good quality data are required to plan and evaluate diabetes services and to assess progress against targets for reducing hospital admissions and bed days. The aim of this study was to assess the completeness of recording of diabetes in hospital admissions using recent national data for Scotland. METHODS: Data derived from linkage of the Scottish National Diabetes Register and hospital admissions data were analysed to assess the completeness of coding of diabetes in hospital inpatient admissions between 2000 and 2007 for patients identified with diabetes prior to hospital admission. RESULTS: In 2007, only 59% of hospital inpatient admissions for people previously diagnosed with diabetes mentioned diabetes, whereas over 99% of people with a mention of diabetes on hospital records were included in the diabetes register. The completeness of diabetes recording varied from 44 to 82% among mainland National Health Service Boards and from 34 to 89% among large general hospitals. Completeness of recording of diabetes as a co-morbidity also varied by primary diagnosis: 70 and 41% of admissions with coronary heart disease and cancer as the primary diagnosis mentioned co-existing diabetes, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: There is wide variation in the completeness of recording of diabetes in hospital admission data. Hospital data alone considerably underestimate the number of admissions and bed days but overestimate length of stay for people with diabetes. Linkage of diabetes register data to hospital admissions data provides a more accurate source for measuring hospital admissions among people diagnosed with diabetes than hospital admissions data.

A national approach to diabetes foot risk stratification and foot care.

The Scottish Diabetes Foot Action Group (SDG) has developed and introduced a national strategy plan for diabetic foot care across Scotland. This has involved the implementation of an evidence-based national foot screening and risk stratification programme that has already covered 61% of the population in just the first two years. Nationally agreed patient information foot leaflets and professional education material have been introduced, and a consensus for antibiotic use in the diabetic foot has been published. Information on multidisciplinary specialist foot services has been collected, indicating that 58% of Health Board areas have consultants with dedicated sessions in their job plan to a foot clinic, and 42% had integrated orthotic involvement. The SDG aims to increase these figures. Work has been undertaken to support local podiatry networks and improve communication between the specialist centre and the community. At a national level the SDG is working with Foot in Diabetes UK (FDUK) to recognize key podiatry skills by developing core competencies and a competency framework for the diabetes podiatrist and diabetes orthotist. The annual Scottish Diabetes Survey indicates some improvement in amputation rates with prevalence decreasing from 0.8% to 0.5%, and improved recording of foot ulceration at a national level. This national strategy has helped highlight the importance and difficulties facing diabetes foot care and should help to continue to improve the quality of care of people with diabetes who have foot-related problems.