Infectious causes of hospitalization in diabetic patients, Gorgan, Iran

Abstract Background and objectives: In diabetic patients, infectious disease is one of the most important cause of admission, and sometimes a life threatening condition. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical features of infection in the hospitalized diabetic patients. Material and Methods: In This retrospective study, we evaluated the files of 122 diabetic patients aged over 20 years in 2004-2005. According to medical document coding, the data was collected by a checklist and then descriptive statistical analysis performed. Results: The subjects’ age is 57+11.76 years (23-83). The Mean time of diabetes diagnosis is 12.62+9.27 years. Sixty-six of them are male (54.5%).and the rest female. most of them (62.2%) were used oral hypoglycemic drugs on admission. Their median fasting blood sugar was 224mg/dl and 164mg/dl for the first and second measuring, respectively. The etiologies are soft tissue infection and diabetic foot ( 49.3%), sepsis(36%),pneumonia(5.7%),urinary infection(3.2%) and unknown(5.7%). None of diabetic foot patients was given specific education for taking care of their feet. Conclusion: in sixty -five percent of the subjects, fasting blood sugar was not in normal limit. Soft tissue infection and diabetic foot was the most infectious cause of admission. It seems that frequent control of blood sugar and foot- care related education can prevent from the most common cause of hospital admission in these patients. Key words: Diabetes, Clinical manifestations, Infection