నైరూప్య

Correlation of hallux valgus, pes planus, and foot pain in a sample of Nigerian college students.

Arinze Christian Okonkwo, Chekwube Judith Uyaebo, Chikosolu Sylvester Okpagu, Joseph Onuwa Umunnah, Stanley Maduagwu, Nneka Lydia Maduka, Nonso Ifemelumma

Aim: To correlate hallux valgus, pes planus, foot pain, and gender difference between the constructs among Nigerian College students.

Methods: An ex-post-facto design involving 283 consenting participants recruited consecutively. Their feet were examined for Hallux Valgus (HV), pes planus, and foot pain using the Manchester Scale, Staheli's index, and Foot function index respectively. Data collected were summarized using descriptive statistics of mean, standard deviation, and percentages. Spearman rank correlation, Pearson Chi-square, and Mann-Whitney U were used to test the hypotheses. Alpha level was set at P<0.05.

Results: The majority of the participants had no hallux valgus (80.9%), no pes planus (81.0%), and no foot pain (91.1%). On those with hallux valgus, right, left and bilateral foot had 8.8%, 5.0%, and 5.3% respectively. Amongst those who had pes planus, right, left, and bilateral foot had 10.2%, 2.8%, and 6.0% respectively. Among those with foot pain, mild and moderate pain had 7.1% and 1.8% respectively. A significant correlation exists between HV and pes planus (r=0.493, p=0.001), HV and age (r=0.195, p=0.001). However, no correlation exists between HV and foot pain (r=0.142, p=0.17), pes planus and foot pain (r=0.132, p=0.27), pes planus and age (r=0.108, p=0.070), foot pain and age (r=0.082, p=0.172). Female participants had significantly higher scores in HV and pes planus than males. However, no significant difference in foot pain between male and female participants

Conclusion: Significant correlation exists between hallux valgus and pes planus. However, no significant correlation exists between hallux valgus and foot pain, pes planus, and foot pain.