Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease widespread around the world. It may lead to organ dysfunction, immunodeficiency, vascular complications, and peripheral neuropathy. These factors contribute to susceptibility to fungal and bacterial infections of the nails, which could have serious consequences.
Aim: To evaluate the knowledge about infection prophylaxis, prevalence of pathogens and a change in quality of life among different groups of diabetic patients.
Material and methods: The study was performed using the DLQI questionnaire, interview, physical examination, mycological tests, and a survey containing multiple choice questions. The sample consisted of 120 patients. We revealed the presence of the infection in almost all of the patients, both with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Results: A great number of the participants lacked a credible source of information on their disease and consequently had little understanding of possible complications and prophylaxis of the nail infections. An overwhelming majority of the patients experienced pronounced discomfort of the skin and nails and felt extremely embarrassed with their nail appearance.
Conclusions: Further research needs to be conducted to determine the efficacy of different methods of preventing nail infections in diabetic patients. Physicians, aside from implementing appropriate treatment, need to ensure that high-risk patients receive sufficient education on the prophylaxis of nail infections and on proper foot care.
Keywords: diabetes mellitus; nails; onychomycosis.
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