Classification of Elderly Men's Sole from the 2D Scanning Method

Abstract

This study identifies the foot shapes of elderly men by classifying foot types according to the shapes of sole of foot and analyzing individual characteristics. The subjects were 269 elderly men over 60 years of age. Their right feet were measured indirectly with a 2D scanner. The anthropometric measuring items consisted of 38 items that were estimated on the right foot of each subject. The 2D scan data were analyzed by various statistical methods such as factor analysis, ANOVA and cluster analysis using the statistical program SPSS 19.0. A total of 8 factors were extracted through a factor analysis and these factors represent 77.83% of total variance. The 8 factors were: ball and lateral foot protrusion, ball gradient, medial foot protrusion, anterior and posterior foot length ratio, lateral ball length, heel size, toes breadth, and foot length, that explained 77.83% of the total variance. A total of 4 clusters (as their sole type) were categorized using 8 factor scores by cluster analysis. Type 1 was classified as H-type(toes width, foot width, heel width uniform and medial malleolus and lateral malleolus almost no protrusion). Type 2 was classified as V-type(foot width and toes width, wide and heel width narrow). Type 3 was classified as A-type(foot width and heel width, wide but toes width narrow, protruded inside). Type 4 was classified as D-type(protruded outside).