Prevalence of Flatfoot among Students Aged 2 to 29 Years in Sokoto, Northwestern Nigeria.

Background: Anthropometric measurements are used to identify the variations that provide detailed information about the population. Flatfoot refers to a condition in which the medial longitudinal arch becomes flattened in contact with the ground with reduced or absent activity, accounting for more than ninety percent of foot-related medical appointments. However, despite numerous studies assessing foot, there is a paucity of data from Sokoto and the northern parts of Nigeria. Most of the studies assessing foot parameters were conducted in the southern parts of the country, which are diverse culturally, ethnically, and nutritionally. All these are factors that affect anatomical structures in the body. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of flatfoot among the studied population in Sokoto. Materials and Method: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study among students aged 2 to 29 years. Bilateral footprint images were obtained from 182 participants by foot scanner in JPG format. Podiatric indices were obtained from the footprint images using CorelDraw application software. The proportion of foot types represented in percentage was determined from the data collected. Results: The mean age of the participants was 13.89 ± 7.02 years. The majority of the participants were males, which constitutes 126 (60.2%) and females 56 (30.8%). Results of this study revealed the average prevalence of flatfoot as 13.9% across age categories of the studied population. Conclusion: This study provides the prevalence of flatfoot among the studied population in Sokoto. It also shows that the prevalence decreased with advanced age. This prevalence can serve as baseline data for clinical evaluation and shoe manufacturers.