Medial Longitudinal Arch: Accuracy, Reliability, and Correlation Between Navicular Drop Test and Footprint Parameters

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Podiatry
• Orthopedics

Background:

• The medial longitudinal arch (MLA) is crucial for foot function.
• Accurate assessment of MLA height is important in clinical practice.
• Existing methods for measuring MLA height have limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the correlation between the navicular drop test and various footprint parameters.
• To assess the reliability of the navicular drop test and footprint parameters.
• To determine if the navicular drop test is a valid and practical alternative for measuring MLA height.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 86 participants.
• Measurement of the navicular drop test and footprint parameters (arch angle, Staheli index, Chippaux-Smirak index) using a plantar pressure platform.
• Calculation of Pearson correlation coefficients and intraclass correlation coefficients for reliability and correlation analysis.

Main Results:

• Excellent intrarater and interrater reliability for all tested parameters (ICC > 0.880).
• Statistically significant correlations between the navicular drop test and footprint parameters (r = 0.614–0.643).
• Excellent correlations among the footprint parameters themselves (r = 0.838–0.881).

Conclusions:

• The navicular drop test demonstrates good correlation with established footprint parameters.
• The navicular drop test is a reproducible, valid, and simple method for assessing MLA height.
• The navicular drop test offers advantages over footprint parameters due to its simplicity and fewer disadvantages.