Prevalence of limb amputations in a Roma population compared to Caucasians, in patients with diabetes mellitus

Introduction. Over the last few years, lower limb amputations have represented a prevalent worldwide burden in the evolution of diabetic patients, but at what extent this burden affects the Roma population compared to Caucasians in Romania still needs further comprehension.

Aim. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of lower extremities amputations in a Roma population, compared to a Caucasian population, in the presence of diabetes mellitus (DM), as well as to identify the risk factors associated.

Materials and methods. We included 536 patients, of whom 257 Roma subjects and 279 Romanian Caucasians, with the following socio-demographic status: the Roma group included 123 women (48.1%) and 134 men (51.9%), aged between 18 and 86 years, while the Caucasian group registered 107 women (47.9%) and 172 men (61.6%), aged between 18 and 89 years.

Results. Analyzing the whole group, the prevalence of amputations was 5% (n=27). A greater proportion of amputations was found in Romanian Caucasians (n=21, 7.5%), where there were 17 men (9.9%) and 4 women (3.7%) affected, compared to the Roma population (n=6, 2.3%), where all amputations occurred in men. Noticeably, this complication is more predominantly afflicting men.

Conclusions. Non-traumatic lower extremity amputation remains a challenge today in the care of diabetic patients. In our study, higher rates of amputations were observed in Romanian Caucasians, in comparison with the Roma population. Apart from this, this condition was accompanied by many cardiovascular risk factors.