Prosthetics, orthotics, devicesEffectiveness of Prefabricated and Customized Foot Orthoses Made From Low-Cost Foam for Noncomplicated Plantar Fasciitis: A Randomized Controlled Trial
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Participant Flow and Follow-Up
Patients with plantar fasciitis consecutively admitted from May 2004 to July 2005 in the Orthotics and Prosthetics Department at the SARAH Network of Rehabilitation Hospitals, Brasilia, Brazil, were recruited. The inclusion criteria consisted of adults, age 18 or older, with the clinical diagnosis of plantar fasciitis characterized by a complaint of first-step pain and maximal tenderness over the medial calcaneal tuberosity.1 Patients with complicated plantar fasciitis, characterized by
Results
Subjects in both groups had similar descriptive characteristics, with a slight difference in body mass index and duration of symptoms (table 1). In general, the participants were women, sedentary people, low-heeled shoe wearers, and cement walkers. Seventeen subjects (12% of randomized subjects: 9 in the prefabricated and 8 in the customized groups) did not attend any of the subsequent follow-ups. In terms of anthropometric and clinical characteristics, there was no difference between the
Discussion
This randomized controlled trial compared the use of prefabricated and customized foot orthoses made from EVA by patients with noncomplicated plantar fasciitis for 8 weeks. In terms of the outcomes considered, the study did not show any statistically significant difference in pain regardless of the type of foot orthoses used after 4 or 8 weeks.
Conclusions
Plantar fasciitis has a natural history characterized by a spontaneous improvement occurring 10 to 12 months after the onset of the symptoms,1, 2, 10 although the pain is a function-limiting factor mainly in the first months.1, 2 Thus, an intervention would be necessary, helpful to relieve the pain, and improve the individuals' quality of life. In our institution, the typical costs associated with supplying and fitting EVA prefabricated orthoses, were roughly half of those of the EVA customized
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Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN012607000319471 (www.anzctr.org.au).
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit on the authors or on any organization with which the authors are associated.
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