Patient perceptions of stock footwear design features

Williams, AE; Nester, CJ

Abstract

Patients with diseases which impact on foot health, for example diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, are
known to have some benefit from prescribed stock footwear with regards to clinical outcomes. Achieving
this is not just about getting the footwear designed and fitted to meet the clinical needs, but it also
requires that the patient wears the shoes. This means meeting the non-clinical needs or criteria of
patients. The aim of this study was to compare perceptions of the same footwear between patients with
diabetes and patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with regard to specific design features. Fifty-four
patients with RA and 40 patients with diabetes who required prescription footwear were asked to identify
issues of importance, and to assess the features of five different pairs of stock footwear using a Likert
scale scoring form. There was a difference between the RA and the diabetes groups with regards their
overall requirements from the footwear with comfort being a priority in RA and style a priority for
diabetes. Both groups rated the same footwear as overall best from the selection, but the scores suggest
that there were features with the ‘best’ shoe which were not acceptable suggesting that even the ‘best’
shoe was a compromise This possibly indicates that existing footwear ranges do not meet all the patients’
requirements. Patients have different perceptions with regard to what is important to them in terms of
footwear with regards to the specific features of the footwear and one of the influences appears to be the
underlying systemic disease. Patient-based criteria may be an important consideration in the design of
the footwear.

Citation

Williams, A., & Nester, C. (2006). Patient perceptions of stock footwear design features. Prosthetics and Orthotics International, 30(1), 61-71. https://doi.org/10.1080/03093640600574425

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Apr 1, 2006
• Deposit Date: Sep 29, 2010
• Journal: Prosthetics and Orthotics International
• Print ISSN: 0309-3646
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 30
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 61-71
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03093640600574425
• Keywords: Stock footwear, patients perceptions, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03093640600574425