Research Article Prevalence and Determinants of Diabetic Foot Ulcers and Lower Extremity Amputations in Three Selected Tertiary Hospitals in Ghana Ambrose Atosona 1,2 and Christopher Larbie 1 1 Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana 2 Department of Nutritional Sciences, University for Development Studies, Tamale Campus, Ghana Correspondence should be addressed to Ambrose Atosona; aatosona@yahoo.com Received 13 August 2018; Accepted 6 January 2019; Published 11 February 2019 Academic Editor: Patrizio Tatti Copyright © 2019 Ambrose Atosona and Christopher Larbie. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background. The occurrence and complications of diabetes are increasing worldwide. This study examined the prevalence and determinants of diabetic foot ulcers and lower extremity amputations in three selected tertiary hospitals in Ghana. Methods.A cross-sectional multicenter study involving 100 subjects was carried out. Subjects were selected through simple random sampling from three selected tertiary hospitals in Ghana. A structured questionnaire was used to document information on sociodemographic, medical history, lifestyle, and physical characteristics of subjects. Foot ulcers and lower extremity amputations were also investigated. Total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoproteins, high-density lipoproteins, serum urea, serum creatinine, and estimated glomerular filtration rate of subjects were assessed. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 22. Results. The study revealed that 31% and 69% were males and females, respectively, with a mean age of 53 8 ± 13 8 years. Among the patients, 11% had diabetic foot ulcers whilst 3% had lower extremity amputations. In the multivariate binary logistic regression analysis, previous history of foot ulcers (OR = 40 4, 95% CI = 5 5-299.9) and foot deformities (OR = 14 4, 95% CI = 1 3-161.2) were identified as independent predictors of diabetic foot ulcers. Foot deformity (p =0 043) and serum urea (p =0 002) were associated with diabetic lower extremity amputations in the univariate analysis. Conclusion. This study showed that the prevalences of diabetic foot ulcers and lower extremity amputations are high among diabetes patients. Foot deformities and previous history of foot ulcers are determinants of diabetic foot ulcers. Foot deformity and serum urea are associated with diabetic lower extremity amputations. 1. Introduction Global prevalence of diabetes is high and still on the rise [1]. The prevalences in the world, Africa, and Ghana stand at 8.8%, 3.2%, and 3.6%, respectively [1, 2]. An increase in the prevalence of diabetes is accompanied by an increase in its complications such as foot ulcers and lower extremity ampu- tations, in that, the lifetime risk of a person with diabetes developing a foot ulcer is 25% [3]. The risk for lower extremity amputation is 15 to 40 times higher in people with diabetes than people without diabetes [4]. The complications of diabetes result in reduced quality of life, incapacity, and death [5]. With regard to diabetic foot ulcers, 12% of all hospitalized diabetic patients in Africa have foot ulceration [6]. Research indicates that diabetes patients with foot ulcers encounter stigma, loss of social role, social iso- lation, and unemployment [7]. Diabetic foot ulcer is a costly and debilitative disease with severe consequences in diabetic patients [8]. Also, mortality after lower extremity amputations in diabetes patients varies from 39% to 80% at 5 years [9–12]. More than half of all nontraumatic lower limb amputations are due to diabetes [13]. Limb amputation causes distortion of body image, increase in dependency, loss of productivity, and increase in costs of treating diabetic foot ulcers [14]. However, the prevalence, risk factors, and predictors of foot ulcers and lower extremity amputations among type 1 Hindawi Journal of Diabetes Research Volume 2019, Article ID 7132861, 9 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/7132861