Development and validation of a questionnaire to assess disabling foot pain

This study outlines the design and validation of a new self-administered in strument for assessing foot pain and disability. The 19-item questionnaire was tested on 45 rheumatology patients, 33 patients who had attended their general practitioner with a foot-related problem and 1000 responders to a p opulation survey of foot disorders. Levels of reported disability were foun d to be greatest for rheumatology patients and least for community subjects . In addition, the instrument was able to detect differences in disability levels reported by community subjects who did and did not consult with a he alth care professional and those who did and did not have a history of past and current foot pain. A good level of agreement was found when items on t he questionnaire were compared with similar items on the ambulation sub-sca le of the Functional Limitation Profile questionnaire. A Cronbach's alpha v alue of 0.99 and item-total correlation values between 0.25 and 0.62 confir med the internal consistency of the instrument. Finally the results of a pr incipal components analysis identified three constructs that reflected disa bilities that are associated with foot pain: functional limitation, pain in tensity and personal appearance. The design of the foot disability question naire makes it a suitable instrument for assessing the impact of painful fo ot conditions in both community and clinical populations. (C) 2000 Internat ional Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.