title: Description of total population hospital admissions for Morton's metatarsalgia in Australia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Morton's metatarsalgia is a painful perineural fibroma of a plantar nerve, most commonly of the second or third intermetatarsal spaces of the forefoot. The aim of this study was to investigate hospital admissions with a diagnosis of Morton's metatarsalgia in the Australian population from 1998 to 2008.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data regarding admissions with a diagnosis code of ICD-10 G57.6 were extracted from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare databases of hospital morbidity from 1998 to 2008. The event of interest was an admission with ICD-10 G57.6 (Morton's metatarsalgia). The explanatory variables included sex and age group. Rates were calculated using the estimated resident population counts to determine denominators.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Morton's metatarsalgia admissions were almost three-fold higher for women in the population compared to men. The rate of admissions for Morton's metatarsalgia was the highest for the total population in the 55- to 59-year-old age group. Among women admitted for Morton's metatarsalgia, the highest rate was in the 50- to 54-year-old age group; among men, the highest rate was in the slightly older 55- to 59-year-old age category.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Population-level information on admissions for Morton's metatarsalgia show that admissions were three times higher among women compared to men. The highest admission rate was in the 50- to 55-year-old age group.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Naraghi
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bryant
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Slack-Smith
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D037061:Metatarsalgia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D055815:Young Adult