Prevalence of floating toe and its relationship with static postural stability in children: The Yamanashi adjunct study of the Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS-Y)

Abstract

Floating toe (FT) is a frequently seen condition in which a toe is inadequately in contact with the ground. Although toes play an important role in stabilizing standing posture and walking, many aspects of the effects of FT on the body remain unclear. To our knowledge, there have been no reports about the relationship between FT and postural stability, especially in children. This study aimed to clarify the prevalence of FT and its relationship with static postural stability in children. Of the 400 children aged 8 years who participated in our cohort study, 396, who were examined for static postural stability, were included in this study. Postural stability and FT were assessed using a foot pressure plate. The sway path length of the center of pressure and the area of the ellipse defined as the size of the area marked by the center of pressure, were measured as an evaluation of static postural stability. We calculated the “floating toe score (FT score: small FT score indicates insufficient ground contact of the toes)” using the image of the plantar footprint obtained at the postural stability measurement. The rate of FT was elevated at more than 90%, and the FT score in the eyes-closed condition was significantly higher than that in the eyes-open condition in both sexes. The FT score significantly correlated with the center of pressure path and area. Our results suggest that ground contact of the toes is not directly related to static postural stability in children, but it may function to stabilize the body when the condition becomes unstable, such as when the eyes are closed.

Relationship between floating toes condition and lower limb muscle weight in 8-year-old children: the Yamanashi adjunct study of the Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS-Y)

“…Tasaka et al examined FT in children aged 9–11 years and reported that the frequency of cases without the toe contacting the ground was 40.3% 7 ) . Fujimaki et al, in their study of 396 cases of 8-year-old children, reported that 97.7% of female and 95.6% of male individuals had FT 9 ) . FT in children is highly prevalent; however, the frequency varies widely.…”

“…FT was assessed using a foot pressure plate (Win-Pod, Medicapteurs, Balma, France). The method of measuring FT was the same as mentioned previously 9 ) . The following is a summary of the method.…”

“…All participants were instructed to maintain an upright standing position on the plate, barefoot, with their arms hanging by their sides and their feet parallel to each other. They were tested twice with their eyes open, each test lasting 20 s. The inspection was performed using the postural mode that displayed the average foot pressure for 20 s. Based on a previous report 1 , 9 , 10 ) , the FT score was calculated using the image of the plantar footprint. If a toe appeared clearly in the image, 2 points were assigned; if the appearance was unclear, 1 point was assigned; and if it did not appear, 0 points were given for each toe.…”

“…While FT is reportedly very common among children, with an estimated incidence rate of approximately 40.3–98.7% in Japanese children 2 , 7 , 9 ) , its frequency decreases in adults. Increased muscle strength has been speculated as a reason for the decline in FT with aging.…”

Plan de Calidad para el Deporte en Edad Escolar de Castilla-La Mancha

“…Empuja con todo el pie el suelo, y sobre todo con el dedo gordo. así contribuir a la mejora propioceptiva (presión, equilibrio y estabilidad) desde el pie, y poder mejorar su estabilidad en cada movimiento (Fujimaki et al, 2021).…”