Reliability of peak foot pressure in patients with previous diabetic foot ulceration

Previous reliability studies on peak plantar pressure measurements in patients with previous diabetic foot ulceration (DFU) did not stratify their analyses according to whether the foot had a previous ulcer.

Does test-retest reliability of peak foot pressure measurements from the various foot regions differ between the ulcerated and non-ulcerated feet?

Data from 23 participants with peripheral neuropathy and healed plantar DFU were analysed in this test-retest reliability comparison study. Plantar pressure was evaluated on two sessions using Pedar^®-X in-shoe system, with a mean of 7.2 days (SD = 1.6) between sessions.

The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and coefficient of variation (CV) were calculated for 10 foot regions. Overall, test-retest reliability was excellent (ICCs, 0.82 to 0.95) for all peak pressure variables. CV ranged between 6.3% and 18.3%, and exceeded 15% over the hallux and medial forefoot regions in the ulcer foot (18.3% and 16.4%, respectively). Hallux peak pressure CV was significantly higher over the ulcer foot than over the non-ulcer foot (5.7%, 95% CI, 1.7%-10.2%). Peak pressure CV over the forefoot also tended to be higher over the ulcer foot (medial forefoot: 6.1%, 95% CI, -0.5%-14.5%; lateral forefoot: 4.1%, 95%CI, -0.7%-11.1%).

Peak plantar foot pressure may be useful to distinguish between groups of patients with peripheral neuropathy and healed plantar DFU. However, clinical decisions based on ulcer foot hallux and forefoot peak pressure measurements should be interpreted with caution.