Cent Eur J Public Health 2023, 31(Suppl 1):S26-S30 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a7841

Assessment of foot arch shape and health status of adult population from Eastern Slovakia

Jana Gaľová1, Natália Kuková1, Melinda Nagy2, Mária Konečná1, Andrea Babejová1, Vincent Sedlák1, Marta Mydlárová Blaščáková1, Mária Zahatňanská3, Tatiana Kimáková4, Zuzana Pilát1, Janka Poráčová1
1 Department of Biology, Faculty of Humanities and Natural Sciences, University of Prešov, Prešov, Slovak Republic
2 Department of Biology, Faculty of Education, J. Selye University, Komárno, Slovak Republic
3 Institute of Pedagogy, Andragogy and Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Natural Sciences, University of Prešov, Prešov, Slovak Republic
4 Department of Public Health and Hygiene, Faculty of Medicine, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, Košice, Slovak Republic

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the foot arch shape and the associated health status in a selected sample of individuals belonging to the adult majority population of eastern Slovakia and to evaluate which of the observed factors are involved in the occurrence and development of foot arch abnormalities.

Methods: The weight and height of probands were measured according to standard anthropometric methods using a personal scale and an anthropometer. The BMI index was calculated for each proband from the measured data. A Pod4Foot Classic podoscope was used to obtain the plantograms. The Chippaux-Smirak index method was used to evaluate the plantograms. The study includes a questionnaire containing questions about factors affecting the foot arch shape.

Results: The arch of the right foot was supported by the effect of wearing shoes at home (p = 0.013). There was an association between wearing high-heeled shoes and foot arch disorder, both on the right (p = 0.011) and left (p = 0.045) foot. There was no significant relationship between the prevalence of overweight or obesity, between wearing orthopaedic insoles in shoes without a prescription, wearing orthopaedic footwear at home, between sport or static and active work and foot arch disorder in our study.

Conclusions: Most of the probands had a bilaterally normal arched foot, which is a positive result. Nowadays, there are a large number of orthopaedic devices on the market that help to shape the arch of the foot properly, but it is not correct to use these devices arbitrarily, without a doctor's prescription and a diagnosis of foot arch deviation.

Keywords: foot arch, plantography, Chippaux-Smirak index, podoscope

Received: April 15, 2023; Revised: December 4, 2023; Accepted: December 4, 2023; Published: December 31, 2023  Show citation

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Gaľová J, Kuková N, Nagy M, Konečná M, Babejová A, Sedlák V, et al.. Assessment of foot arch shape and health status of adult population from Eastern Slovakia. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2023;31(Suppl 1):S26-30. doi: 10.21101/cejph.a7841. PubMed PMID: 38272475.
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