Objective To investigate the treatment delay in the management of diabetic foot ulcers and its associated predictive factors. Methods Clinical data of 476 patients hospitalized for the first time in the diabetic center of our department due to diabetic foot ulcers between January 2013 and February 2019 were collected and retrospectively analyzed. Their treatment delays included patient delay (time interval between ulcer detection by the patient and the first consultation of a health care professional) and professional delay (time interval between the first consultation of a health care professional and admission to our hospital). The highest quartile of 32 d in patient delay and that of 40 d in professional delay were defined as severe patient delay and severe professional delay, respectively. SPSS statistics 25.0 was used for statistical analysis. Data comparison between 2 groups was performed using student′s t test or Chi-square test depending on data types. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the predictors for severe patient delay and severe professional delay. Results The median patient delay was 14 (1-354) d, and 33.2% (158/476) of patients saw a doctor within 1 week after the occurrence of diabetic foot ulcer, and 48.7% (232/476) of them did so within 2 weeks. The median professional delay was 16 (1-359) d, and 74.3% (171/230) of patients referred to our center after 1 week of treatment, and 54.8% (126/230) did so after 2 weeks. Age (P=0.010) was positively correlated and hemoglobin A1c (P=0.029) was negativelycorrelated with patient delay, while hemoglobin A1c was also negatively correlated with professional delay (P=0.007). Conclusion At present, there are still delays in many links in the process from treatment-seeking to receiving professional diagnosis and treatment for patients wity diabetic foot ulcer. It is necessary to establish a standardized time frame for its diagnosis and treatment to shorten the delays.