A New Categorization System for Foot Type to Prevent and Treat Lower Extremity Injuries — MHSRS 2023

Bradley MW, Yuan X

Abstract accepted for a poster session at the 2023 Military Health System Research Symposium

 This study demonstrates the influence of the APDACAP on the structure of the foot, particularly on talus positioning, for the first time in a large sample of humans and elucidates previously misunderstood concepts about pronation. We determined that the current, most widely used method for categorizing foot type (CIA) is not the most accurate for diagnostic screening. Instead, the investigators propose a new, more accurate categorization system for foot type, which includes the CIA’s three categories of low, medium, and high arch heights, and further stratifies to describe the wide spectrum of flexible and rigid foot types within each arch height category, by considering the degrees of APDACAP and TDA. Although the following still needs to be verified in a prospective trial, it is expected that the most often misdiagnosed/mistreated foot types are to be (1) low arch height yet rigid midfoot (i.e., low CIA & high APDACAP/TDA), (2) high arch height yet flexible midfoot (i.e., high CIA & low APDACAP/TDA), and (3) medium arch height with APDACAP/TDA values toward the outer extremes of the flexible/rigid continuums. The implications of the new categorization system will enable better awareness and care to prevent and treat lower extremity injuries.