Common Foot Problems in Healthy Elderly

Objectives: To study common foot problem and contributing factors among Thai elderly. Study design: A cross sectional descriptive study. Setting: King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. Subjects: Two hundred and thirteen volunteers aged 60-80 years. Methods: Healthy elderly were interviewed about foot pain and pain severity. Their feet were evaluated for deformities and impaired sensation. Foot prints were taken. ResultsL Of all, females had more problems with painful plantar fasciitis and callus than males. Pain severity was also found more among females. Foot deformities were found 87.96% and 86.67% in males and females, respectively. The most common foot deformities detected were mallet toe (58.33%) and hallux valgus (43.81%). Females had hallux valgus with higher degree than males. Flat feet were found 32.41% in males and 41.9% in females. About 10% of footprint had arch index > 1 in both genders. Females had more callus than males (p=0.04). The most common site of callus was at the first toe (males 68.52, females 74.29%). Protective sensation impairment was found about 17%-20%. Overriding toe and callus formation at the first metatarsal head was significantly associated with hallux valgus, whereas the inappropriate footwear was significantly associated with foot pain. Conclusion: Foot deformities and callus were the most common foot problems among Thai elderly. Mallet toe and high arch feet were common in males whereas plantar fasciitis and flat feet with foot pain were common in females. Inappropriate footwear was significantly associated with foot pain.