Influence of footwear fitting on feet morphology in 9 year old girls

BACKGROUND: The human foot is shaped throughout all life in a way that is individual for every human being. Footwear fitting in the process of foot development is the issue covered by a limited range of empirical studies. This prompted the authors to undertake this subject of the study aimed at the influence of fitting of regularly worn inside the school footwear on feet morphology in primary schoolgirls. METHODS: The study group comprised 100 girls aged 9. Feet characteristics were recorded by CQ-ST podoscope. The footwear fitting to the feet of the examined girls was tested using the Clevermess device. The data were analyzed based on the Student’s t test, Wilcoxon test and regression analysis. RESULTS: Appropriately fitted right indoor footwear was worn by 48% of the subjects while the left one by 43% of the group. Appropriate fitting in relation to the left and right foot width was noted in 23% of the group. The statistically significant combined effect of predictors characterizing footwear on the value of Wejsflog index of the right (p < 0.001) and left (p < 0.001) foot and influence of the length excess on the heel angle of the left foot (p = 0.006) were found. CONCLUSIONS: Most examined girls wear poorly fitted indoor footwear. The length excess of the indoor footwear has connections with the Wejsflog index of the right and left foot and the heel angle of the left foot. The larger the length excess, the lower the transverse arch. In the production of indoor footwear the differences in the feet width should be taken into account.