A quick and reliable procedure for assessing foot alignment in athletes.
BACKGROUND
Quick procedures with proper psychometric properties that can capture the combined alignment of the foot-ankle complex in a position that may be more representative of the status of the lower limb during ground contact are essential for assessing a large group of athletes.


METHODS
The assessed lower limb was positioned with the calcaneus surface facing upward in a way that all of the marks could be seen at the center of the camera display. After guaranteeing maintenance of the foot at 90° of dorsiflexion actively sustained by the athlete, the examiner took the picture of the foot-ankle alignment.


RESULTS
Intraclass correlation coefficients ranging from 0.82 to 0.93 demonstrated excellent intratester and intertester reliability for the proposed measurements of forefoot, rearfoot, and shank-forefoot alignments. The intraclass correlation coefficient between the shank-forefoot measures and the sum of the rearfoot and forefoot measures was 0.98, suggesting that the shank-forefoot alignment measures can represent the combined rearfoot and forefoot alignments.


CONCLUSIONS
This study describes a reliable and practical measurement procedure for rearfoot, forefoot, and shank-forefoot alignments that can be applied to clinical and research situations as a screening procedure for risk factors for lower-limb injuries in athletes.
Laboratory of Sports Injuries and Prevention, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Luciana
L
De Michelis Mendonça
Natália Franco Netto
NF
Bittencourt
Giovanna Mendes
GM
Amaral
Lívia Santos
LS
Diniz
Thales Rezende
TR
Souza
Sérgio Teixeira
ST
da Fonseca
D056352:Athletes / Q000523:psychology*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot / Q000502:physiology*; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult