Evaluation of Balance and Fall Risk in Patients with Plantar Fasciitis Syndrome

Objectives: In this study, we aimed to investigate plantar fasciitis syndrome on balance and the risks of the falls.
Methods: Fifty patients with clinical diagnosed plantar fasciitis participated in this study. Patients were evaluated using the visual analog scale (VAS) for pain. Balance and fall risk were measured with the biodex balance system. Postural stability and fall risk were measured with total score (TS), antero-posterior (AP) and mediolateral (ML) as statically and dynamically at 2. and 8. degrees. Nineteen healthy volunteers with no active complaints and no previous plantar fasciitis/calcaneal spur were included in this study as a control group.
Results: The mean VAS value in the patient group was 6.65±1.84. There was no statistical difference between the mean age and body mass index of patients and control groups. A statistically significant difference was found between the group in TS2 (p=0.005), TS8 (p=0.009), AP2 (p=0.006), AP8 (p=0.018), DR2 (p=0.01) and DR8 (p=0.002) in favor of the control group. There was no statistical difference between the groups in the static and dynamic mediolateral balance evaluations.
Conclusion: The findings demonstrated that postural balance, especially in the antero-posterior plane, was impaired in patients with plantar fasciitis syndrome and increased risk of falls.

Plantar fasiit sendromu olan hastalarda denge ve düþme riskinin deðerlendirilmesi

Amaç: Plantar fasiit sendromunun hastalarda denge ve düþme riski üzerine etkisini araþtýrmayý amaçladýk.
Gereç ve Yöntem: Klinik olarak plantar fasiit tanýsý alan 50 hasta çalýþmaya dahil edildi. Çalýþmamýzda hastalarýn aðrýlarý vizüel analog skala (VAS) ile deðerlendirildi. Denge ve düþme riski deðerlendirmesi için Biodex Balance sistemi ile ölçümleri yapýldý. Postural stabilite (PS) ve düþme riski (DR) statik ve dinamik olarak (2. ve 8. derecede) total skor (TS), antero-posterior (AP) ve medio-lateral (ML) olarak ölçüldü. Aktif þikayeti olmayan ve daha önce plantar fasiit/kalkaneal spur tanýsý almamýþ 19 saðlýklý gönüllü kontrol grubu olarak çalýþmaya dâhil edildi.
Bulgular: Plantar fasiit grubunda ortalama VAS deðeri 6,65±1,84 idi. Hasta ve kontrol gruplarýnýn yaþ ve vücut kitle indeksleri ortalamalarý arasýnda istatistiksel farklýlýk yoktu (p>0,05). TS2 (p=0,005), TS8 (p=0,009), AP2 (p=0,006), AP8 (p=0,018), DR2 (p=0,01) ve DR8 (p=0,002) deðerlerinde kontrol grubu lehine istatistiksel fark bulundu. Statik ve dinamik medio-lateral denge deðerlendirmelerde gruplar arasýnda fark bulunmadý.
Sonuç: Bu bulgular, plantar fasiit sendromu olan hastalarda postural dengenin özellikle antero-posterior düzlemde bozulduðunu ve düþme riskinin arttýðýný göstermektedir.