Background: The aim of this study was to clarify any gender differences in the mortality risk of people with DFD since patients with diabetic foot disease (DFD) are at a high risk of mortality and, at the same time, are more likely to be men.
Methods: From regional administrative sources, the survival probability was retrospectively evaluated by the Kaplan-Meier method and using the Cox proportional-hazards model comparing people with DFD to those without DFD across the years 2011-2018 in Tuscany, Italy. Gender difference in mortality was evaluated by the ratio of hazard ratios (RHR) of men to women after initial DFD hospitalizations (n = 11,529) or in a cohort with prior history of DFD hospitalizations (n = 11,246).
Results: In both cohorts, the survival probability after DFD was lower among women. Compared to those without DFD, after initial DFD hospitalizations, the mortality risk was significantly (18%) higher for men compared to women. This excess risk was particularly high after major amputations but also after ulcers, infections, gangrene, or Charcot, with a lower reduction after revascularization procedures among men. In the cohort that included people with a history of prior DFD hospitalizations, except for the risk of minor amputations being higher for men, there was no gender difference in mortality risk.
Conclusions: In people with DFD, the overall survival probability was lower among women. Compared to those without DFD after a first DFD hospitalization, men were at higher risk of mortality. This excess risk disappeared in groups with a history of previous DFD hospitalizations containing a greater percentage of women who were older and probably had a longer duration of diabetes and thus becoming, over time, progressively frailer than men.
Keywords: diabetic foot disease; first-incident hospitalization; gender differences; mortality risk; ratio of hazard ratios.