Plantar fasciitis/calcaneal spur among security forces personnel

A prospective single survey was conducted among Security Forces personnel at the Mobile Hospital, Ministry of Interior, Makkah Al-Mukarramah, Saudi Arabia. One hundred three patients presented to the orthopedic clinic with painful heel. A control group of patients from the other clinics without painful heel was also screened. The average age was 38.81 years and 38.1 years in the patient and the control group, respectively. The mean Quetelet index of body mass in the patient group was 30.36 kg/m2 and in the control group it was 26.71 kg/m2. There was a statistically significant difference of p < 0.05 between the two groups for Quetelet index of body mass. The right side was affected in 37 patients, the left side was involved in 45 patients, and 21 patients had pain bilaterally. Seventy-one patients had spur on the calcaneum. The prevalence of painful heel attributable to plantar fasciitis/calcaneum spur was 1.18%. This study suggests that obesity is a cause and initiator of heel pain and plantar fasciitis/calcaneal spur and that improper footwear aggravates the condition.