Z. Nakhaee, A. Rahimi, M. Abaee, A. Rezasoltani and K. Khademi Kalantari
This study aimed to investigate if any relationship exists between the medial longitudinal arch (MLA) height and the ankle/knee injuries in professional runners. It was also aimed to find out any association between the foot pressure patterns and the clinical navicular drop test in the subjects. Forty-seven professional runners participated in this study and using the clinical navicular drop test, they were categorized into normal, low and high arch foot subjects. The maximum force, peak pressure and the contact area of their feet were studied in both static and dynamic conditions. The results of this study showed no strong correlation between the height of MLA and the rate of the ankle/knee injuries. The correlation between the clinical navicular drop test and the modified arch index (MAI) was between 0.32 in static and 0.57 in dynamic tests.
The results of this study conveyed that having a lower or higher than a normal MLA is not a definite risk factor for sports-related injuries. Furthermore, although a high correlation was not found between the clinical navicular drop test and the foot pressure indices, due to the clinical entity of this test, the obtained association is relatively good.
The Foot, 2008, 18(2), 84-90