What Risk Factors Are Associated with Foot Pain?

In a recent study, researchers analyzed the prevalence of foot pain among various populations.

The study, published in Arthritis Care & Research, assessed foot pain variables in five groups: the Chingford Women Study, the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project, the Framingham Foot Study, the Clinical Assessment Study of the Foot, and the North West Adelaide Health Study. Researchers selected one foot pain question from each group based on how much it resembled an American College of Rheumatology pain question.

https://twitter.com/RR_footandankle/status/1082683923736551425

If you have foot pain, don't ignore it. Researchers stated that a number of elderly individuals have simply developed a tolerance for foot pain over the years, so they try their best to ignore the pain instead of treating it and picking out shoes to help alleviate it. https://t.co/Z2ldZjf3i1

— sportydoctor (@SportyDoctor) January 8, 2019

Each group had a different definition of foot pain, and the group that defined pain with a pain-specific case definition had the lowest prevalence of foot pain—13%; the highest prevalence was 36%. The other four groups included pain, aching, or stiffness in their definitions of pain. Female sex, obesity, and older age were all risk factors for foot pain; foot pain was significantly less prevalent in patients aged between 20 and 44 years.

Gout Causes Intense Foot Pain https://t.co/4duplqRqK8 #arthritis #gout pic.twitter.com/MVf8d4w0uw

— Zahid Ladha (@LadhaFoot1st) January 7, 2019

Foot pain is commonly caused by numerous types of arthritis, injury, fracture, overuse, or other conditions causing inflammation. Other frequent causes of foot pain include bone spurs, plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendinitis, tumors, bunions, claw toe, and more. Consult with a foot specialist to find a suitable treatment for your foot pain or even deformities like bunions or hammer toe. A great solution to foot pain is getting custom plantar fasciitis insoles. 

A variety of types of arthritis and related conditions can also contribute to foot pain, according to the Arthritis Foundation. These include:

• Osteoarthritis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Juvenile arthritis
• Gout
• Reactive arthritis
• Lupus
• Psoriatic arthritis
• Infectious arthritis
• Raynaud’s phenomenon
• Osteoporosis
• Scleroderma

In the present study, the researchers wrote, “The prevalence of foot pain is likely affected by the case definition used, therefore consideration must be given for future population studies to use consistent measures of data collection.”

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Source: Arthritis Care & Research