A Study of Cutaneous Manifestations Associated with Diabetes Mellitus at a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital

Abstract

� ABSTRACT� Background: Diabetes mellitus has emerged as a major public health problem in our country, and our country has a distinction of having the largest number of diabetics in the world. Only a few epidemiologic studies have been done on the prevalence of skin disorders in patients with diabetes mellitus. Present study was conducted to study of cutaneous manifestations associated with diabetes mellitus at a tertiary care teaching hospital. Methods: 200 patients with Diabetes Mellitus, visiting the Department of Medicine and Department of Dermatology (outpatient and inpatient) of Uttar Pradesh University of Medical Sciences, Saifai, Etawah, UP (India) during the period of 1 yr. from April 2015 to March 2016 were included in the study. Detailed history was taken as per proforma and patient investigated. Results: Maximum incidence was seen between 41-70 yrs. of age and in middle class. Infections and infestations were the commonest associations detected in 49.5% of cases out of which fungal infections were observed in majority of the cases (24.5%) followed by bacterial infection (15.5%) and viral infections (7.0%). Psoriasis and xerosis were detected in 6.0 % of cases each. Skin disease strongly associated with diabetes mellitus like vitiligo were observed in 3.5 % of cases. Conclusion: Skin lesions in Diabetes mellitus are sometimes mirror to an underlying disease process and they may be the first expression of the disease. Most of the diabetic patients who developed cutaneous manifestations were in the 41-70 year age group, and infections were the single largest type of involvement seen. Cutaneous lesions can serve as cutaneous markers for DM. These can be detected by a simple cutaneous examination. The commonly seen nonspecific skin manifestations can also be used as skin markers for DM. This can be especially useful in the rural areas where advanced facilities are often unavailable.