Patient care is an important part of rheumatoid arthritis management. Chronic diseases form commitment on patient's caregiver. That the care of the patient may be associated with many factors related to both the patient and the caregiver should not be underestimated. We suggest that caregiver's strain may be correlated with disease activity.
Objective: The aim of this study is to group patients with plantar heel pain and calcaneal spurs detected via lateral foot x-rays based on the angle between the spur and the calcaneus and compare the efficacy of an Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) treatment between these groups.
Materials and Methods: The patients were divided into three groups based on the measurement the angle between the plantar calcaneal spur and the calcaneus. Those with a measured angle of <30° were classified as Group 1, ranging between 30–60° as Group 2, and >60° as Group 3. Demographic characteristics, spur length, visual analog scale (VAS) and foot function index score (FFI), and pain and function evaluation were used as the pre-and posttreatment data in each group.
Results: Out of the 170 patients, 96 (56.5%) were included in Group 1, 65 (38.2%) were in Group 2, and 9 (5.3%) in Group 3. The posttreatment VAS and FFI scores of the patients were significantly lower than the pretreatment scores (p < 0,001). It was determined that the highest and lowest VAS and FFI score changes in the posttreatment period was in Group 3 and Group 1, respectively. In the correlation analysis, a positive correlation was found between the measured angle value and pretreatment VAS and FFI scores, age, and spur length.
Conclusion: ESWT is an effective treatment method for calcaneal spurs, but further studies are needed on PCS classifications and the efficacy of the treatment selected based on these classifications.
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