Clinical and biomechanical risk factors of patients diagnosed with hallux valgus

The purpose of this study was to identify the clinical and plantar loading variables related to hallux valgus. Fifty-one healthy control subjects and 40 subjects with a diagnosis of moderate hallux valgus deformity of similar age and body weight were recruited for this study. Clinical measurements of pain, first metatarsophalangeal joint range of motion, and single-leg resting calcaneal stance position were obtained. Biomechanical measurements were obtained using a capacitive pressure platform. Plantar loading variables were calculated for seven regions of the plantar surface. A univariate analysis followed by a stepwise logistic regression was used to analyze the data. The results indicated that high values for pain, single-leg resting calcaneal stance position, hallux region peak pressure and force-time integral, and central forefoot region force-time integral increased the likelihood of hallux valgus.