VIENNA – Diabetes is an independent risk factor for recurrent cellulitis independent of obesity and advanced age, according to a Finnish case-control study.
The incidence of bacterial cellulitis is reportedly increasing in many countries. The growing prevalence of type 2 diabetes coupled with the obesity epidemic and the graying of the population may be important contributors to the problem, Dr. Matti Karppelin observed at the annual European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.
Prior case-control studies, including one led by Dr. Karppelin (Clin. Microbiol. Infect. 2009; 16:729-34) have identified obesity but not diabetes as being linked to increased rates of acute and recurrent bacterial non-necrotizing cellulitis. Because that study included a mere 44 patients presenting with recurrent cellulitis, he and his colleagues decided to take another look at the diabetes question in a much larger patient population.
The Finnish investigators retrospectively identified 398 Finns treated for recurrent cellulitis in the year 2000 and compared them with a nationally representative control group of 8,005 Finns without a history of cellulitis. The patients with recurrent cellulitis were a median of 65 years old, 59% were women, and the group had a mean body mass index of 32.1 kg/m2 compared with 26.9 kg/m2 in controls.
Of particular interest, the prevalence of diabetes was 21% among patients with recurrent cellulitis compared with 6% in controls. In a multivariate analysis, diabetes was associated with a 69% increased risk of recurrent cellulitis independent of advanced age or obesity, according to Dr. Karppelin of the University of Tampere, Finland.
Dr. Karppelin said he had no financial conflicts.