Foot Arch Development and the Correlating Factors in Healthy Children between Three and Six Years of Age in Hualien

• Main Authors: Chih-Cheng Fan, 樊志成
• Other Authors: Tzyy-Jiuan Wang
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2005
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/57589810950665544166

碩士 === 國立陽明大學 === 物理治療研究所 === 93 === Background: Foot arch develops spontaneously during the first decade of life. There has always been controversial in regards to the necessity of treatment for a flexible flatfoot in children. The criteria for treating flexible flatfoot in children have not been established in the literature. Understanding the foot arch development during childhood is very important for clinical decision making in treating flexible flatfeet. In addition, the extent to which age, body weight, lower extremity alignment, and joint laxity influence the foot arch development are also important to consider. Purposes: The aims of this study were 1) to establish the reference values of the foot arch (medial longitudinal arch) height and the normalized foot arch height in healthy children in the Hualien district of Taiwan, and 2) to identify significant factors relating to the foot arch development. Study design: A descriptive and exploratory cross-sectional study. Methods: Five hundred and seven healthy children (258 boys and 249 girls), aged from three to six years, were recruited from the Hualien area. The navicular height of each subject’s both feet was measured and normalized by the subject’s foot length to represent the foot arch height and the normalized foot arch height, respectively. Femoral anteversion, tibial external torsion, knee varum/valgum, rearfoot varus, forefoot varus, and the range of ankle dorsiflexion of both lower limbs were also measured using standardized procedures and reliable methods. Statistical analysis: 1) Descriptive statistics were presented for the foot arch height and the normalized foot arch height. 2) Stepwise multiple regression analyses were used to identify significant factors from age, body weight, and the lower extremity measurements that significantly correlated with the foot arch height or the normalized foot arch height. Results: The means (standard deviations) of the foot arch height and the normalized foot arch for healthy children of three to six years of age were 1.58cm (0.29cm) and 0.105 (0.024) , 1.74cm (0.34cm) and 0.106 (0.021), 1.86cm (0.37cm) and 0.108 (0.022), 2.02cm (0.43cm) and 0.112 (0.023), respectively. Results of stepwise multiple regression analyses identified 6 factors which significantly correlated with the foot arch height (R square=0.54) and the normalized foot arch height (R square=0.38), respectively. The angle of forefoot varus and the range of ankle dorsiflexion appeared to be the major correlating factors of the healthy children’s foot arch height and normalized foot arch height. Conclusion: We established the reference values of the foot arch height and the normalized foot arch height of healthy children in the Hualien district of Taiwan. We also identified 6 significant factors that related to the foot arch development, in which the angle of forefoot varus and the range of ankle dorsiflexion were the major correlating factors of the foot arch height and the normalized foot arch height. This study finding provided valuable information to assist clinical judgment in managing the flatfoot problems of children.