Quality and factors associate with foot pain in pre-retirement aged at Chulalongkorn University Thailand

Abstract

The general objectives of the study were to determine the related factors of individuality, occupation, health behavior, and anthropometry to the presence of musculoskeletal disorders at foot region during the past month in pre-retirement aged of Chulalongkorn University personnel, and to compare the scores of physical health and mental health between subjects with foot pain and subjects without foot pain. This research study was conducted as a cross-sectional design on 221 subjects aged between 50 and 60 years at Chulalongkorn University by cluster sampling technique to recruit the sample at each sector. The main outcome variable was foot pain identified by the persons who had foot pain during the last month and had at least 1 score of the Manchester foot pain and disability index (MFPDI). A self-reported questionnaire and a set of physical examinations performed by a physiotherapist were used to collect data about the factors associated with foot pain and health-related quality of life. 47.5% of participants were defined as foot pain group. The significant differences of overall quality of life were found between the participants with foot pain and without foot pain (p-value < 0.001 for SF-12 PCS; p-value = 0.001 for SF-12 MCS). Using backward stepwise logistics regression, various significant factors related to foot pain were found including having previous history of low back pain (OR=2.04, 95%CI=1.06-3.95) or knee pain (OR=3.24, 95%CI=1.67-6.31), prolong standing posture at work (OR=2.12, 95%CI=0.998-4.49), the presence of mild hallux valgus (OR=0.37, 95%CI=0.17-0.79), weakness of ankle plantarflexors strength (OR=3.60, 95%CI=1.17-11.1), and pronated foot type (OR=1.97, 95%CI=0.994-3.92). Low back pain history, knee pain history, prolong standing, and pronated foot type were important factors associated with foot pain in pre-retirement aged. These findings provide useful information for the development of the prevention strategies for musculoskeletal foot pain in this age group. Future studies to determine the cause-effect relationship between foot pain and those important factors are required.