Relations between morphological features of feet in elderly people

Introduction
Human foot make up the functional whole, thus changes in one of them may contribute to activating individual compensating mechanisms leading to disorders in the shape of the remaining segments and dysfunctions and consequently to complications in other elements of the motor system.

Aim of the research
Analyze correlations between characteristics of feet structure in women and men over 60.

Material and methods
The research conducted by podoscopic method involved seniors from the Podkarpackie and the Małopolskie voivodeships, including 116 females and 82 males. Tested persons were divided into three age groups (60–69 years, 70–79 years, 80–90 years). The following indices were analyzed: the Clarke’s angle, Wejsflog’s index (W_wp), heel angle (γ), hallux valgus angle (α), and the V toe varus deformity angle (β). In order to evaluate the correlations between characteristics of feet structure the Spearman’s rank correlation was employed.

Results
We observed a statistically significant correlations of the hallux valgus angle and Clarke’s angle as well as between the V toe varus deformity angle with the Wejsflog’s index and the heel angle in the absence of statistically significant associations between V toe varus deformity angle and Clarke’s angle.

Conclusions
Changes in different parts of the foot that result from involution processes increasingly interact with one another in the elderly age. Prevention of foot deformities and dysfunctions should focus primarily on maintaining or restoring the capacity of foot muscles, improving proprioception and proper selection of footwear, which should not distort the shape and function of the frontal foot segments.