Quality of Life and Factors Associated with Foot Pain in Pre-Retirement Aged at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

Abstract

Foot pain is commonly found among working population especially in older workers. The aims of this study were to determine the related factors of socio demographic, occupation, health behavior, and anthropometry to the prevalence of musculoskeletal foot pain during the past month in pre-retirement aged of Chulalongkorn University personnel, and to explore the association between foot pain and the overall quality of life. A cross-sectional study design was conducted on 221 subjects aged between 50 and 60 years at Chulalongkorn University by cluster sampling technique to recruit the sample at each sector. The main outcome variable was foot pain identified by the persons with current foot pain and pain during the last month for at least 1 score of the Manchester foot pain and disability index (MFPDI). A self-reported questionnaire and a set of physical examinations performed by a physiotherapist were used to collect data about the factors associated with foot pain and health-related quality of life. The study revealed that 47.5% of participants were defined as foot pain group. The positive significant differences of overall quality of life were found between the participants with foot pain and without foot pain (p-value< 0.001 for SF-12 PCS; p-value=0.001 for SF-12 MCS). Using backward stepwise logistics regression, various significant factors related to foot pain were found including having previous history of low back pain (adjusted OR=2.04, 95%CI=1.06-3.95) or knee pain (adjusted OR=3.24, 95%CI=1.67-6.31), prolonged standing posture at work (adjusted OR=2.12, 95%CI=1.00-4.49), the presence of mild hallux valgus (adjusted OR=0.37, 95%CI=0.17-0.79), weakness of ankle plantar flexors strength (adjusted OR=3.60, 95%CI=1.17-11.1), and pronated foot type (adjusted OR=1.97, 95%CI=1.00-3.92).  In conclusion, low back pain history, knee pain history, prolonged standing, and pronated foot type were important factors associated with foot pain in pre-retirement aged. These findings provide useful information for the development of prevention strategies for musculoskeletal foot pain in this age group. Future studies to determine the cause-effect relationship between foot pain and those important factors are required.