Journal Article

Effects of a footwear intervention on foot pain and disability in people with gout: a randomised controlled trial

Frecklington, Mike, Gow, Peter, Morpeth, Trish, Vandal, Alain C., Dalbeth, Nicola, Rome, Keith, McNair, Peter

2019

Overview

Background There is limited evidence supporting the long-term effect of a foot care package that includes footwear for people with gout. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a footwear intervention on foot pain and disability in people with gout over 6 months. Methods Participants with gout ( n  = 94) were randomly allocated to either a control group (podiatric care and gout education) or footwear intervention group (podiatric care and gout education plus a commercially available athletic shoe). Measurements were undertaken at baseline and 2, 4, and 6 months. Primary outcome was foot pain severity. Secondary outcomes were overall pain, foot impairment/disability, footwear comfort, fit, ease and weight. Data were analysed using repeated measures models. Results Baseline foot pain scores were low, and no differences in foot pain scores were observed between groups over 6 months (adjusted effect estimate: − 6.7, 95% CI − 16.4 to 2.9, P  = 0.17). Improvements between groups in overall pain scores (adjusted effect estimate: − 13.2, 95% CI − 22.2 to − 4.3, P  < 0.01) and foot impairment/disability scores (− 4.7, 95% CI − 9.1 to − 0.3, P  = 0.04) favouring the footwear intervention were observed at 2 months, but not at 4 or 6 months. Improvements between groups in footwear fit (adjusted effect estimate: − 11.1, 95% CI − 21.1 to − 1.0, P  = 0.03), ease (− 13.2, 95% CI − 23.8 to − 2.7, P  = 0.01) and weight (− 10.3, 95% CI − 19.8 to − 0.8, P  = 0.03) favouring the footwear intervention were also observed over 6 months. Similar improvements were observed for footwear comfort at 2 and 4 months. No other differences in secondary outcomes measured were observed at 6 months ( P  > 0.05). Conclusions Addition of footwear to a foot care package did not improve foot pain in people with gout. Short-term improvements in overall pain and foot impairment/disability and more durable improvements in footwear comfort and fit were observed with the footwear intervention. Trial registration ACTRN12614000209695. Registered 27 February 2014, http://www.anzctr.org.au/TrialSearch.aspx?searchTxt=ACTRN12614000209695&isBasic=True

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Aged / Aged, 80 and over / Analysis / Ankle / Arthritis / Athletic shoes / Care and treatment / Education / Evidence-based medicine / Family medical history / Feasibility studies / Female / Foot / Foot - pathology / Foot care / Foot diseases / Foot pain / Footwear / Gout / Gout - diagnosis / Gout - epidemiology / Gout - therapy / Health aspects / Humans / Intervention / Male / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Methods / Middle Aged / Orthopedics / Pain / Pain - diagnosis / Pain - epidemiology / Pain management / Pain Management - methods / Pain Measurement - methods / Patient Education as Topic - methods / Patients / Qualitative research / Questionnaires / Research Article / Rheumatism / Rheumatoid arthritis / Rheumatology / Shoes / Treatment Outcome / Womens health