Week 3 - Updates & more literature review??!

It has been a long week but I hope you’re ready for the next blog in my journey exploring Plantar Fasciitis! As I mentioned in my previous blogs, the first month of work is dedicated to literature review. This week was dedicated to another week of analyzing papers in PubMed:Prevalence and pharmaceutical treatment of plantar fasciitis in United States adults; Impact of routine footwear on foot health: A study on plantar fasciitis; Comparative efficacy of corticosteroid injection and non-invasive treatments for plantar fasciitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Before I talk about the analysis of these three papers, I want to talk about my future interviewing process. As of right now, I have around 3-5 people set up for an interview and am hoping to eventually have a total of ten people. My google form is almost complete and will contain questions like one’s previous medical history, height, weight, and age. This form is also a way of finding what mode of contact is most preferable and if and when a potential interviewee would like to be interviewed. I hope to have ten interviewees and to have sent out the google form by the end of the fourth week!

The first paper I analyzed this week was Prevalence and pharmaceutical treatment of plantar fasciitis in United States adults. This paper was very reminiscent of the paper I analyzed last week (Dutch primary care) in that it had the same goal of looking at the occurrence/treatment patterns among general practitioners by analyzing multiple health surveys. It analyzed incidence rates of Plantar Fasciitis (PF) and looked at this rate in specific populations and demographics. They wanted to see if there was a disparity in how this disorder affected different types of groups. The main overarching facts they found in this study was that age appears associated with PF, females are more likely to have PF than males, higher BMI is associated with PF, PF is associated with reduced health-related quality of life, PF is associated with limitations in physical activities involving the lower extremities, and primary care physicians are more likely to diagnose PF than other providers. The statistics provided in this paper regarding incidence rates and the amount of people prescribed with each medication helped me get closer to the answer of mitigating chronic PF.

The second paper I analyzed was Impact of routine footwear on foot health: A study on plantar fasciitis. When I was first diagnosed with PF, the first solution I was given was stretching (rolling one’s foot over a tennis ball). This was quite ineffective and started to pursue different solutions. One pathway I ventured upon was better footwear. This paper added a lot value in that it gave crucial details on the criteria of footwear that has a lasting impact on PF. They found that about 83% of participants wore inappropriate footwear lacking adequate heel height, thin soles, and hard insoles without arch support. They further analyzed various other studies that gave conclusive evidence that flat (<0.05 cm) and high (>4 cm) heeled shoes impact foot health. Wearing shoes that support foot arches and reduce plantar heel pressure is crucial in preventing and mitigating PF.

The third paper and final paper I analyzed was Comparative efficacy of corticosteroid injection and non-invasive treatments for plantar fasciitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. With further research being done toward Plantar Fasciitis, more and more evidence rises stating that corticosteroid injections (CSI) are only effective in the short term. This study compared CSI with 4 non-invasive treatment types: Physical therapy (PT), Shockwave therapy (SW), Orthosis (insole), and Oral NSAIDs. CSI is associated with short-term pain reduction compared to non-invasive treatments but this solution pathway does not actually deal with the issue at hand. This paper will be further analyzed because by the time this blog is published!

As I mentioned before, the second month of this project is dedicated to interviews and compiling of my data. My google doc notes are already reaching 70 pages and with the next week UpToDate analysis, I anticipate my notes reaching over a hundred pages. Compiling all of this data and writing my research paper in a structured and outlined format will take time and possibly will involve using qualitative analysis tools. I will update you all when the time comes!

But for now thank you for reading and will c u all next week!!!!!! : )