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Diabetes-related Amputations Increase for
Hispanics
Newswise —
Hospitalizations of adult Hispanics for
diabetes-related foot or leg amputations
rose sharply between 2001 and 2004,
according to the latest News and Numbers
from the Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality.
Leg or foot amputations
among people with diabetes typically occur
because the disease diminishes blood
circulation.
Nerve damage resulting
from diabetes can also impair the ability of
a patient to sense a blister or other sore
and increase the likelihood that it will
become infected. About 86,000 Americans
underwent diabetes-related amputations in
2004.
Although diabetes is
the leading cause of foot or leg
amputations, those complications and others
can be minimized or avoided completely,
through proper care by medical providers and
patients.
Updated data from AHRQ
show:
• The hospitalization
rate for diabetes-related amputations among
Hispanics’ increased from 63 admissions per
100,000 people in 2001 to nearly 80
admissions per 100,000 people in 2004.
• During the same
period, the rate for whites remained steady
at roughly 28 to 31 admissions per 100,000
people.
• The diabetes-related
amputation rate among blacks decreased
slightly from 113 per 100,000 people to
about 104 admissions per 100,000 people.
That rate remains more than three times the
rate for whites.
• In 2004, only 38
percent of adult Hispanics age 40 and over
with diabetes received three recommended
annual screenings – foot exams, eye exams
and blood sugar level checks (hemoglobin A1c
test). The percentage was 47 for whites and
47 for blacks.
This AHRQ News and
Numbers summary is based on data from the
2007 National Healthcare Disparities Report
(http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhdr07/nhdr07.pdf),
examines the quality of health care across
America in four key areas—effectiveness of
health care, patient safety, timeliness of
care, and patient centeredness.
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