Incidence of Pes planus amongst the people of Cross River State

Abstract

The incidence of Pes planus was determined among the people of Cross River State. A total of 1000 individuals comprising 500 males and 500 females of Cross River State origin and aged 20-30 years were used to assess the prevalence of Pes planus. All volunteers involved in the study had no deformities or previous fractures of the lower extremities especially of the foot. For each volunteer, bilateral plantar prints were obtained using ink procedure method. All prints were counted, separated into sexes and the incidence of flat foot calculated for both sexes. A total of 111 individuals had flat foot comprising 44 males and 67 females. The overall incidence of Pes planus was 22.20% with a prevalence of 8.80% amongst males and 13.40% amongst females. Bilateral flat foot was more common in females (11.20%) than in males (6.00%). Unilateral flat foot was more common in males (2.80%) than in females (2.20%). Our result shows that the prevalence of flat foot is higher amongst the females than the males in Cross River State with the prevalence being 22.20%.