Danish researchers have determined the incidence and prevalence of the rare but serious diabetes complication, Charcot foot, in a nationwide study.

In the analysis of nearly 310,000 people with type 1, type 2 or other diabetes who had contact with a hospital between 1995 and 2008, they found 1722 also had a diagnosis of Charcot foot.

This equated to a prevalence of 0.56%, or about one in 180 patients, of the “devastating complication”, the investigators from the University of Copenhagen wrote in Diabetes Care.

“The current study is the largest study ever to investigate the incidence and prevalence of Charcot foot in patients with diabetes,” they said.