Abstract:
Background: Diabetes mellitus is a non- communicable disease with an increasing
prevalence in developing countries. Skin manifestations in this condition are due to
metabolic derangements or chronic degenerative complications. Skin manifestations
are commonly observed after developing clinical diabetes mellitus, but may also
precede the diagnosis of the disease.
Objective: To determine the prevalence and the spectrum of cutaneous diseases in
patients with diabetes mellitus
Design: A hospital- based descriptive cross sectional study.
Setting: Regional Dermatology Training Center at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical
Centre (KCMC), Moshi, Tanzania.
Results: A total of 544 patients with diabetes mellitus were recruited. The majority
(64.2%, n= 349) were females with a male to female ratio of 1:1.8 and mean age of
54.8 years (SD±18.4). The overall prevalence of cutaneous manifestations in diabetic
patients was 43.9% (n=239). Some patients had more than one skin condition giving
a total of 297 skin conditions diagnosed in 239 patients. From a total of 297 skin
conditions, there were 150 (50.5%) primary non-infectious skin conditions in patients
with diabetes. Infections accounted for 38.0% (n=113), whereas 6.7 % (n=16) were
skin conditions due to complications of diabetes and 7.6% (n=18) were skin reactions
caused by treatment for diabetes
Conclusions: Primary non-infectious cutaneous manifestations of diabetes mellitus are
the most frequent manifestations as compared with infectious cutaneous manifestations
in our setting.
