A “Foot-school” for prevention and treatment of foot dysfunctions : what do participants think about?

Abstract

Background: Physiotherapy offers an active approach to prevent and treat foot dysfunction. A Spiraldynamik®-inspired 6‒8-h educational program, called “Mainzer Fußschule” (Mainz Foot-school, MFS), was established to offer a framework for effective implementation. Elements of the courses are: knowledge transfer about anatomy and function, perception training, mobilization, as well as strengthening and coordination. For a first evaluation the opinions of former participants about the course format and the subjective effects of course participation were collected. Methods: We conducted a retrospective, monocentric, questionnairebased survey. The online-questionnaire comprised 23-items. All MFS attendees between 2015‒2017 who were contactable via e-mail (522; 90.3%) were approached. 350 completed questionnaires (67%) were returned. Outcomes were analysed in subgroups, especially the difference between preventive and curative approaches. Results: The overall framework of the course was rated very positively by most participants, with 94.8% expressing a positive opinion about the course format, 97.2 % about the theory vs. practice ratio, and 97.2 % about the information content. The opinions regarding the impact of the offering were equally positive, with 84.3 % stating that their feet are now used and treated differently, and 63,9 % that they still perform exercises learned in the MFS. Furthermore, the majority (67.9 %) believes that the procedure had a positive effect on their existing foot problem. Feedback on the various other examined aspects was similarly positive. The subgroup analyses did not reveal differences in the data. Conclusions: The courses were rated positively by the majority of former participants, both in terms of format and subjective effects. Thus the MFS is a promising therapy option that should be pursued further on. The effects should be evaluated in a prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled study.