Foot and Shoe Size Awareness
Introduction
The current literature demonstrates several occasions where foot measurements were taken and compared to pathology or targeted specific population groups . These studies aimed to determine foot size and shoe size mismatch and associate the mismatch with pathology or deformity of the foot . [ 1-9 ] This study ’ s objectives were to promote an understanding of foot health through educating the community and to create public awareness of the necessity of measuring feet when purchasing shoes in an attempt to prevent irreparable foot pathology created by ill-fitting shoes .
Hypothesis
We expected to find an increase in awareness of the necessity for a correct shoe size after foot size measurements were conducted .
Methods
A sample size of 50 was recommended . Between the four events , we were able to capture 222 participants .
4 ) Do you feel it is important to have your feet measured when buying new shoes ?
5 ) Will you get your feet measured before your next shoe purchase ?
Questions four and five were asked of only 50 participants out of the 222 participants due to a change in study design .
Results
We requested our statistician recommend a statistical analysis that would analyze our data , and it was recommended that we use the concordance [ 9 ] correlation coefficient , which is similar to the kappa statistic for agreement but is used for continuous or ordinal data . Neither the concordance nor kappa is an actual test of significance . Instead , the statistic is compared to a scale using descriptive language , for example , 0 = no agreement , 1 = perfect agreement . A confidence interval can still be applied to this type of statistic and was applied in this study . Of the types of concordance analyses , we chose the intraclass correlation , which
Four separate health events were held : two at a conference hotel , the other two at community activity events . The authors ’ institution granted IRB approval (# 43829EP ) for this investigation . Participants were verbally consented and then asked their current shoe size . The length and width of their feet were then measured . Participants completed brief pre- and post-measurement surveys which asked the following questions :
1 ) How many years since your last shoe fitting ?
2 ) Why did you decide to have your feet measured during the study ?
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3 ) Would you have your feet measured in the future ?
14 Pedorthic Footcare Association | www . pedorthics . org