“De impact van schimmelinfecties van huid en nagels op de diabetische voet. Een cohortstudie in de Nederlandse Eerstelijnszorg”

Diabetic ulcers are notorious complications of diabetes, affecting at least 20.000 patients yearly (1, 2). They are associated with an increased risk of amputation and mortality and a decreased quality of life(1-3). It is therefore paramount to investigate potential risk factors.
Although DM is a known risk factor for developing fungal infections of skin and nails (4-6), the influence of fungal infections on the development of diabetic ulcers and amputation risk however, is less clear (7-10).
The Extramural Leiden Academic Network (ELAN) data (n=116.000) of the last 10 years, linked to hospital data, will be used to create a cohort of diabetic patients to investigate the relationship between fungal infection, treatment and clinical outcome.
Our aim is to investigate the impact of fungal infections on the diabetic foot to be able to provide recommendations on its approach, thereby supporting general physicians and associated healthcare workers in their daily practice.
This topic sits high on the priority list of the Dutch Primary Care Research Agenda. Given the high prevalence of both diabetes and fungal infections, this is very relevant to primary care.