Correlation between radiographic morphometry and body surface somatometry for foot arches.
Yosuke Maruyama, Katsutoshi Itsukaichi, Satoko Tanabe and 3 others
PMID 31871374WHAT IT FOUND
Surface measurements of the longitudinal arch correlate well with X-ray angles, but surface measures of the transverse arch do not.
Clinicians can trust surface assessments for longitudinal arch height but need imaging to accurately assess the transverse arch.
Key findings
01The surface arch-height ratio showed significant correlations with most radiographic measures of the medial longitudinal arch, except the lateral talocalcaneal angle.
02The surface transverse arch-length ratio correlated with one radiographic measure of the transverse arch but not the other, and showed no correlation with medial longitudinal arch measures.
03The Foot Posture Index (FPI) correlated with most radiographic measures of the medial longitudinal arch but showed only a weak correlation with one measure of the transverse arch.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study only included healthy adults with normal BMI, so results may not apply to children, people with foot pathology, or those with high BMI where soft tissue distortion is greater. Only right feet were analyzed, which may not represent bilateral variation. The authors note that surface measures are affected by soft tissue and toe shape, which limits their accuracy compared to radiography.
Declared interests
None declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that surface measurements of the transverse arch are accurate. The study found no correlation between the surface transverse arch-length ratio and the radiographic NM angle, and no correlation between longitudinal and transverse arch measures. A patient may have a normal longitudinal arch but an abnormal transverse arch that surface tests will miss.