RISK FACTORS FOR PLANTAR FASCIITIS

Plantar fasciitis is one of the more common soft-tissue disorders of the foot, yet little is known about its etiology. The purpose of the present study was to use an epidemiological design to determine whether risk factors for plantar fasciitis could be identified. Specifically, we examined the risk factors of limited ankle dorsiflexion with the knee extended, obesity, and time spent weight-bearing.

We used a matched case-control design, with two controls for each patient. The matching criteria were age and gender. We identified fifty consecutive patients with unilateral plantar fasciitis who met the inclusion criteria. The data that were collected included height, weight, whether the subject spent the majority of the workday weight-bearing, and whether the subject was a jogger or runner. We used a reliable goniometric method to measure passive ankle dorsiflexion bilaterally. The main outcome measure was the adjusted odds ratio of plantar fasciitis associated with varying degrees of limitation of ankle dorsiflexion, different levels of body mass, and the subjects' reports on weight-bearing.