Foot arch development and the correlating factors in children between seven and ten years of age

• Main Authors: Kuo-Yun Chang, 張國芸
• Other Authors: Wen-Yin Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/u28umt

碩士 === 國立陽明大學 === 物理治療暨輔助科技學系 === 97 === Background: Flexible flatfoot (FFF) is common in children. Infants are born with FFF. Foot arch develops spontaneously during the first decade of life. The development is fast during 2 and 6 years of age, and then slows down till 10 years of age. Reference values of the normal arch height can help clinicians to determine if children with FFF need treatment or not. However, there is a lack of clinical reference values of the normal arch height and normalized arch height in children older than 6 years of age. In addition, many factors such as age, gender, body height and weight, and joint laxity were suggested to relate to foot arch development. However, the extents to which these factors are related to foot arch development remain uncertain. Considering that physical activity may greatly influence physical development; however, there is a lack of studies that explore relationship between foot arch development and physical activity. Purposes: The aims of this study are 1) to establish the reference values of the medial longitudinal arch height and the normalized foot arch height in children between 7 and 10 years of age, and 2) to identify significant factors relating to the foot arch development in children between 7 and 10 years of age. Study design: A descriptive and exploratory cross-sectional study. Methods: We included children aged between 7 and 10 years of age from elementary schools in Nantou County. Those who had orthopedic or neurological disorders, or had pain or discomfort that might interfere with measurements were excluded. Data collections included age, gender, body height and weight, navicular height and normalized navicular height, joint laxity and physical activity level. Navicular height is the distance from the inferior margin of the navicular head to the floor. Normalized navicular height is navicular height divided by the foot length. We used range of ankle dorsiflexion to indicate the extent of joint laxity. Levels of physical activity are determined by a self-administered questionnaire. Statistical analyses: 1) Descriptive statistics were presented for the foot arch height and the normalized foot arch height. 2) Three-way analysis of variance was used to examine the effect of different age group, gender and side in navicular height and normalized navicular height. 3) Stepwise multiple regression analyses were used to identify significant factors from age, body weight, body height, joint laxity and the physical activity level to determine if they were significantly associated with the foot arch height or the normalized foot arch height. Results: The means (standard deviations) of the navicular height for children of seven to ten years of age were 1.45 (0.40) cm, 1.76 (0.48) cm, 1.73 (0.46) cm, and 1.88 (0.63) cm, respectively. The means (standard deviations) of the normalized navicular height for children of seven to ten years of age were 0.078 (0.022), 0.090 (0.024), 0.086 (0.024) and 0.089 (0.029), respectively. Results of stepwise multiple regression analyses identified body height and joint laxity as factors which significantly correlated with the navicular height (R square=0.14) and joint laxity and age as factors significantly correlated with the normalized navicular height (R square=0.054). Conclusion: We established the reference values of the foot arch height and the normalized foot arch height of children between seven and ten years of age. The results of regression analysis revealed that body height and joint laxity were related to the foot arch height and that joint laxity and age were related to the normalized foot arch height. Clinical relevance: The reference values of the foot arch height provided the information to assist the clinical judgment in managing the children with flatfoot.