Meta-Analysis
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Diabetes. Jun 15, 2025; 16(6): 105155
Published online Jun 15, 2025. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v16.i6.105155
Association between anemia and the risk of diabetic foot ulcer: A meta-analysis
Shi-Shuai Lin, Cun-Ren Chen, Wei-Cheng Xu, Jia Fu, Jia-Qin Xu, Zun-Hong Liang
Shi-Shuai Lin, Jia-Qin Xu, Zun-Hong Liang, Department of Burn and Skin Repair Surgery, Affiliated Hainan Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Hainan General Hospital, Haikou 570311, Hainan Province, China
Cun-Ren Chen, Department of Endocrinology, Affiliated Hainan Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Hainan General Hospital, Haikou 570311, Hainan Province, China
Wei-Cheng Xu, Jia Fu, Department of Burn and Skin Repair Surgery, Affiliated Clinical College of Hainan Medical University, Haikou 570311, Hainan Province, China
Co-first authors: Shi-Shuai Lin and Cun-Ren Chen.
Author contributions: Liang ZH and Lin SS designed the study; Chen CR and Xu WC performed database search, data collection, and study quality evaluation; Lin SS and Fu J performed statistical analysis; Xu WC and Fu J interpreted the results; Lin SS and Chen CR wrote the initial draft; Xu JQ and Liang ZH revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Supported by General Program of Hainan Natural Science Foundation, No. 824MS143.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Zun-Hong Liang, MD, Department of Burn and Skin Repair Surgery, Affiliated Hainan Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Hainan General Hospital, No. 19 Xiuhua Road, Xiuying District, Haikou 570311, Hainan Province, China. liangzunhong123@163.com
Received: January 14, 2025
Revised: March 7, 2025
Accepted: April 23, 2025
Published online: June 15, 2025
Processing time: 151 Days and 4.3 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: This meta-analysis reveals a significant association between anemia and an increased risk of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) in diabetic patients, with an odds ratio (OR) of 2.72. Each 1-g/dL decrease in hemoglobin appears to further elevates DFU risk (OR: 1.65), and diabetic patients with DFUs show significantly lower hemoglobin levels (-2.13 g/dL). These findings highlight the importance of anemia monitoring and management in diabetes care to reduce DFU risk. By providing reasonable evidence from 16 studies involving over 170000 patients, this study underscores the need for early interventions and further research into underlying mechanisms and therapeutic strategies.