The Incidence of Tinea Pedis in [Patients With Diabetes] Versus [Patients Without Diabetes] With Interdigital Macerations
Researchers sought to assess the incidence of tinea pedis infections in patients with otherwise asymptomatic pedal interdigital macerations. People with and without diabetes were compared, and age and body mass index were also examined. The researchers made fungal cultures from skin samples obtained from 77 men and three women who had a mean age of 65 years; half of the patients had type 2 diabetes. The cultures indicated a 40 percent prevalence of tinea pedis in the total study population. Prevalence among individuals with diabetes was 42.5 percent, while it was 37.5 percent for people without diabetes. The researchers found that patients with diabetes might be susceptible to interdigital fungal infections at a younger age than those without diabetes. It is recommended that practitioners treat interdigital macerations of the foot with an antifungal agent because the likelihood of a tinea pedis infection is 40 percent.
