title: Prevalence of nontraumatic foot pain among urban young working women and its contributing factors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Foot pain is a common problem, especially in women, and studies have shown that it is related to footwear. This study was conducted to establish the prevalence of nontraumatic foot pain and its contributing factors in young working Malaysian women in an urban setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  The survey was conducted on a group of working women (age range 21-40 years) selected using convenience sampling. Data on foot problems was collected through an investigator-directed questionnaire and during clinical inspection of the foot.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 400 women, with a mean age of 29.4 years, were recruited. Half (n = 200) of the women had experienced recurrent nontraumatic foot pain in the past one year. Subjective assessments of foot pain using the Numeric Intensity Scale gave an average score of 4.89 ± 1.78 (range 2-10), with most episodes occurring at the heel. There was no statistically significant association between foot pain and age, ethnicity or body mass index. However, there was a higher incidence of foot pain in women wearing high-heeled footwear than those wearing non-high-heeled footwear (p = 0.027, odds ratio 1.591).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nontraumatic foot pain is common among young working women in our society. More than half (68.4%) of the women with foot pain in our study attributed the pain to footwear. Wearing high-heeled shoes to work was a significant contributing factor. Increased public awareness on the importance of proper footwear may help to reduce the prevalence of nontraumatic foot pain in working women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Lembah Pantai, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. yeokpin1@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Yeok Pin
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Chua
authors.forename: Wei Jing
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Tunku Sara Tunku Ahmad
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Yahya
authors.forename: Aik
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saw
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot; D006801:Humans; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D010147:Pain Measurement; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012775:Shoes; D012846:Singapore; D014505:Urban Population; D014931:Women, Working / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult