The incidence of plantar fasciitis in the United States military

Scher, Danielle L.<sup>1</sup>; Belmont, Jr, Philip J.<sup>1</sup>; Bear, Russell<sup>1</sup>; Mountcastle, Sally B.<sup>2</sup>; Orr, Justin D.<sup>1</sup>; Owens, Brett D.<sup>3</sup>

Affiliations

¹Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, William Beaumont Army Medical Center, El Paso, Texas

²Department of Health Promotion, University of Texas El Paso, 1101 North Campbell Street, El Paso, TX 79968

³Keller Army Hospital, 900 Washington Road, West Point, NY 10996

Abstract

Background: Although plantar fasciitis is the most common cause of heel pain, little has been reported on the incidence rates of this disorder. We sought to determine the incidence rate and demographic risk factors of plantar fasciitis in an ethnically diverse and physically active population of United States military service members.

Methods: A query was performed with use of the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database for the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification, code for plantar fasciitis (728.71). Multivariate Poisson regression analysis was used to estimate the rate of plantar fasciitis per 1000 person-years, while controlling for sex, race, rank, service, and age.

Results: The overall unadjusted incidence rate of plantar fasciitis was 10.5 per 1000 person-years. Compared with men, women had a significantly increased adjusted incidence rate ratio for plantar fasciitis of 1.96 (95% confidence interval, 1.94 to 1.99). The adjusted incidence rate ratio for black service members compared with white service members was 1.12 (95% confidence interval, 1.09 to 1.12). With junior officers as the referent category, junior enlisted, senior enlisted, and senior officer rank groups had a significantly increased adjusted incidence rate ratio for plantar fasciitis: 1.20 (95% confidence interval, 1.18 to 1.23), 1.19 (95% confidence interval, 1.17 to 1.22), and 1.56 (95% confidence interval, 1.52 to 1.61), respectively. Compared with service members in the Air Force, those in the Army and Marines had a significantly increased adjusted incidence rate ratio for plantar fasciitis of 1.85 (95% confidence interval, 1.82 to 1.87) and 1.28 (95% confidence interval, 1.25 to 1.30), respectively. The adjusted incidence rate ratio for the age group of forty years old or more compared with the twenty to twenty-four-year-old group was 3.42 (95% confidence interval, 3.34 to 3.51).

Conclusions: Female sex; black race; junior enlisted, senior enlisted, and senior officer rank groups; service in the Army or Marines; and increasing age are all risk factors for plantar fasciitis.

Level of Evidence: Prognostic Level II. See Instructions to Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Links

DOI: 10.2106/JBJS.I.00257

PubMed: 19952249

WoS: 000272568300012

Cited Works (1)

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Cited By (3)

Year	Entry
2020	Lievers WB, Goggins KA, Adamic P. Epidemiology of foot injuries using National Collegiate Athletic Association data from the 2009–2010 through 2014–2015 seasons. J Athl Train. February 2020;55(2):181-187.
2023	Matsumoto Y, Ogihara N, Kosuge S, Hanawa H, Kokubun T, Kanemura N. Sex differences in the kinematics and kinetics of the foot and plantar aponeurosis during drop-jump. Sci Rep. August 10, 2023;13:12957.
2022	Luftglass A. Investigating the Effects of Shoe Upper Panel Stiffness on Biomechanics [Master's thesis]. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; May 5, 2022.