To identify clinic and metabolic risk factors for diabetic neuropathy and peripheral arterial disease in patients evaluated in a diabetic foot unit care. From 2000 to 2005 we evaluated the presence of diabetic neuropathy (monofilament, tuning fork and Boulton's clinic scale) and peripheral arterial disease (ankle-brachial index and toe-brachial index) in 304 diabetic patients. We classified patients in four groups: patients without pathology (normal group), with neuropathy (neuropathic group), with peripheral arterial disease (vascular group) and with both pathologies (mixed group) and we compared the characteristics of each group. We analysed other poblational characteristics: age, gender, type of diabetes, duration, microvascular and macrovascular complications, hypertension, smoking habit, antiagregation and mean HbA1c in the last year. Age, frequency of hypertension and coronary disease were significantly higher (p < 0.005) in vascular and mixed group than in normal group (63 +/- 13 and 65 +/- 10 vs. 55 +/- 14; 69.2 and 70.3 vs. 45.5%; 46,2% and 39.2% vs 23.8%, respectively). Frequency of retinopathy, nephropathy and HbA1c were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in neuropathic and mix group than in normal group (62.5 and 66.2 vs. 32.7%; 45.3 and 47.3 vs. 24.8%; 8.1 +/- 1.6 and 8.0 +/- 1.3 vs 7.4 +/- 1.2 respectively). This study indicates that the development of diabetic neuropathy is related with worse metabolic control and the presence of other microvascular complications; while age, hypertension and coronary disease are risk factors for peripheral arterial disease.