Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39340796›Full record

ArticleDiabetic medicine : a journal of the British Diabetic Association2025

External validation of the DIAFORA system to predict lower-extremity amputations in a prospective Danish cohort.

Johan Røikjer, Matilde Monteiro-Soares, Daina Walton, Elisabetta Iacopi, Jarmila Jirkovska, Michael Edmonds, Anna Trocha, William Jeffocate, Sicco Bus, Diabetic Foot Study Group (DFSG) prevention of the first ulcer research group

Abstract readValidation Study
In one paragraph

Article in Diabetic medicine : a journal of the British Diabetic Association, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Johan RøikjerSteno Diabetes Center North Denmark, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4578-1328
Matilde Monteiro-SoaresPortuguese Red Cross School of Health-Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4586-2910
Daina WaltonLewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, Foot Health Service, London, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0555-071X
Elisabetta IacopiDepartment of Medicine and Surgery Endocrine-Metabolic and of Transplantation, University of Pisa, Italy.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9007-9378
Jarmila JirkovskaMedical Department of the First Faculty of Medicine and Military University Hospital Prague, Diabetes Center and Foot Clinic, Czech Republic.
Michael EdmondsDiabetic Foot Clinic and Diabetic Department, King's College Hospital, London, UK.
Anna TrochaClinical Diabetes Center, Elisabeth Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0001-6471-5043
William JeffocateRetired Physician, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1744-7576
Sicco BusAmsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8357-9163
Diabetic Foot Study Group (DFSG) prevention of the first ulcer research group

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimA diabetes-related foot ulcer (DFU) is a major risk factor for lower-extremity amputation (LEA). To help clinicians predict the risk of LEA in people with DFU, the Diabetic Foot Risk Assessment (DIAFORA) system was developed but has never been externally validated.

methodsIn this study, 317 people presenting with a new DFU were included. At baseline, participants were grouped into three groups based on their DIAFORA score: low-risk (<15), medium-risk (15-25), and high-risk (>25). Participants were followed until healing, LEA, death, or at least 3 months. Discriminative accuracy was evaluated using sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios (LRs) and the area under the curve (AUC).

resultsAll 317 participants completed at least 3 months of follow-up for a median duration of 146 days, during which 12.6% underwent minor amputation and 2.5% major amputation. People in the low- and medium-risk categories had major amputation rates of 0.9% and 2.1%, respectively, and negative LR of major LEA of 0.10 and 0.38, respectively, while the people in the high-risk category had an amputation rate of 25.0% and a positive LR of 12.9. The DIAFORA risk groups had a sensitivity of 75.0% and a specificity of 65.7%, with a corresponding AUC of 0.78 (95% CI 0.68-0.87) for the prediction of major LEA.

conclusionThe DIAFORA score is a useful tool for risk stratification of people presenting with a newly occurred DFU, with the external validation presenting results similar to those presented in the original study. The DIAFORA score may guide clinicians towards more individualized DFU treatment regimens.

Indexed as

Amputation, SurgicalDiabetic FootAgedCohort StudiesDenmarkFemaleHumansLower ExtremityMaleMiddle AgedPredictive Value of TestsProspective StudiesRisk AssessmentRisk FactorsSensitivity and Specificitydiabetic footdiabetic foot ulcerlower‐extremity amputationsscoring systems

Identifiers

PMID39340796
PMCPMC11635586

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.