Global recurrence rates in diabetic foot ulcers: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Recurrence rates of diabetic foot ulcers vary widely in the published literature. The aim of this systematic review is to estimate recurrence rates of diabetic foot ulcers. We did a PubMed search and performed a review of reference lists for studies reporting recurrence of diabetic foot ulcers. The weighted relative risk (RR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) for recurrence was estimated. Forty-nine studies reporting recurrence of diabetic foot ulcers were included. A pooled estimate for recurrence rate was 22.1% per person-year (py) (95% CI, 19.0-25.2%). Recurrence rate was 24.9% per py in Europe (95% CI, 20.0%-29.7%), 17.8% per py in North America (95% CI, 12.7%-22.9%), 16.9% per py in Africa (95% CI, 4.7%-29.0%), and 17.0% per py in Asia…