Study of the Psychological Profile of Type 2 Diabetic Patients With Foot Wounds, Compared to Diabetic Patients Without Foot Wounds

Several studies have highlighted the value of analyzing a patient's psychological profile with the Bortner scale questionnaire (defined as type A or B personality). This analysis helps to better understand and anticipate patients' behaviour, stress and compliance with their disease and its progression. The Type A personality profile combines hyperactivity, competitiveness and exaggerated ambition, while the B profile is characterized by lower sensitivity to stress and reduced competitiveness.

It has been shown that the type B psychological profile in patients with type 2 diabetes is an independent risk factor for inflammation and that, in type 1 diabetes, the type A psychological profile is associated with a decrease in the expression of the pro-inflammatory cFos gene.

Thus, the psychological profile appears to have an impact not only on the patient's behaviour but also on his or her biology.

It has never been determined whether the type A or B psychological profile assessed by Bortner's self-administered questionnaire can influence the development of foot wounds in patients with type 2 diabetes who often have a medically unfavourable prognosis and socio-economic difficulties. We would therefore like to study the psychological profile of these individuals in order to make comparisons with the data obtained in a previous study that included patients with type 2 diabetes who did not have a foot wound.