Trial reportAnnals of family medicine
Treatment of forefoot problems in older people: a randomized clinical trial comparing podiatric treatment with standardized shoe advice.
Trial report in Annals of family medicine. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evaluation of safety boots and their relationships with the foot structure of female and male industrial workers.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Article
- Effectiveness of bespoke or customised orthotic treatment in plantar pressure reduction of the central metatarsals: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of orthopaedics · 2025Review
- Article
- Foot pain and foot health in an educated population of adults: results from the Glasgow Caledonian University Alumni Foot Health Survey.Journal of foot and ankle research · 2018Article
- Relationship between patient-reported outcome measures (PROM) and three measures of foot-ankle alignment in patients with metatarsal head pain: a cross-sectional study.Journal of foot and ankle research · 2016Article
- Evaluating Problems With Footwear in the Geriatric Population.Geriatric orthopaedic surgery & rehabilitation · 2015Article
- In this issue: raise the gaze.Annals of family medicineArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeConsultations for forefoot pain are frequent in primary care, but scientific support of treatment options is scarce. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of podiatric treatment vs standardized advice on proper shoe characteristics and fit of shoes by means of an information leaflet for people aged 50 years and older with forefoot pain in primary care.
methodsIn this randomized controlled trial, 205 participants aged 50 years and older with hindering nontraumatic forefoot pain have been recruited at their general practitioner's office. Exclusion criteria were treatment of forefoot problem of less than 6 months' duration before inclusion, rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetic neuropathy or having pain considered not to be musculoskeletal (eg, warts). Participants received shoe advice by means of an information leaflet or podiatric care. Foot pain, foot-related dysfunction, general health, and social participation were assessed by means of questionnaires every 3 months for 1 year. Using multilevel analysis, we analyzed results at the level of (1) outcome measures, (2) the individual, and (3) the general practitioner.
resultsNo differences were found between the 2 treatment groups. Both intervention groups showed an improvement over time in foot pain and foot-related dysfunction.
conclusionThis study found that shoe advice provided to patients consulting their general practitioner for forefoot pain and symptom relief resulted in outcomes similar to treatment outcomes in patients consulting a podiatrist. Based on these results, primary care physicians should be cautious when referring a patient to a podiatrist; instead, they should start by providing advice on proper characteristics and fit of shoes.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.