Research on foot anthropometry of men with diabetes in Vietnam

Diabetes often causes foot complications, inducing diabetic patients to use therapy shoes or custom-made shoes designed on the basis of anthropometric characteristics of their feet to ensure a good fitting. Wearing poorly fitted shoes contributes to the development of foot ulcer sites. This paper presents the results of foot anthropometric research, developing a foot size system for men with diabetes in Vietnam in order to develop pressure-offloading footwear. The foot data of 212 men with type-2 diabetes aged 44 to 75 years were collected during this study. Foot photography and patient interviews about foot complications were also conducted by research assistants. The results show that the average disease duration of the surveyed patients was statistically calculated as 6.8 ± 4.3 years. The patients from 50 to 70 years old accounted for up to 86.8% of all interviewees. In all participants, the patients with foot pain and swelling of metatarsal joints accounted for 19.8%, foot ulcers accounted for 6.4%, dry feet, cracked skin, and calluses almost equally accounted for 12%. Most of the feet are slightly deformed mainly in the metatarsal joint area and no patient had a leg amputation. The patients suffering from two types of foot injuries account for more than 43.1%. Interestingly, the ball width and circumference of the patient’s foot are 4.5 mm and 6.5 mm larger than that of a healthy man’s foot, respectively; whereas, the mid-foot height is 3.7 mm lower. From the collected data and statistic figures, the patient foot sizing system has been developed including 5 sizes by length (231.5, 238.0, 244.5, 251.0, 257.5 mm), and each size by length is divided into 3 sizes by width. Our categorizing system meets more than 81.5% of the shoe size needed by men with diabetes in Vietnam.