Changes in the measurement of neutral and relaxed calcaneal stance positions with experience

Abstract

The neutral and relaxed calcaneal stance positions are widely used in clinical practice to classify feet and for the prescription of foot orthoses. The aim of this study is to determine whether undergraduate podiatry students could improve in their accuracy of taking these measurements with increased experience. The results of clinical examinations at the end of two semesters were used where students are required to take these measurements of the same foot of the same subject. The hypothesis that the distribution of the measurements will cluster about the same mean between clinical examinations with the standard deviation being smaller at the second examination as students become more experienced was not supported. This further questions the use of these measurements in clinical practice.