Factors Associated with Hallux Valgus Deformity in Enugu Metropolis, Southeast, Nigeria

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine factors associated with hallux valgus such as body mass index (BMI), footwear; types of footwear and duration of footwear use, occupation, as well as foot injury in Enugu metropolis, Southeast, Nigeria Methodology: This work is a cross-sectional study carried out on a total of 1,110 participants between ages of 11 and 80years of which 1000 of them completed and returned their questionnaires, 516 were females, whereas, 484 were males. This work explored some of the factors associated with hallux abductovalgus deformity like body mass index, type of footwear and duration of use of the footwear. The stratified sampling technique was used in this research. The data was collected into specially designed pro-forma and was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS version 21). The findings were presented in tables and figure. Findings: The participantsweights and heights were used to calculate the body mass index (BMI). The BMI ≥30 had 22 (15.1 %) and 8 (11.8%) of the male and female participants with hallux valgus deformity respectively. 19 (12.0 %) of the male and 15 (15.6 %) of the female with hallux valgus were in BMI range of 25 – 29.99, while, 15 (8.3 %), males and 57 (16.2 %) females with hallux valgus deformity were within the BMI 18.5 – 24.99. Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: In this study, several factors like body mass index (BMI), occupation, footwear, types of footwear, duration of footwear useand foot injury were associated with hallux abductovalgusdeformity. Since hallux abductovalgus deformity is a common deformity affecting the foot and its prevalence increased with wearing of high heeled tight-fitting shoes, it should therefore be advocated that flat, spacious shoes should be used regularly by both male and female folks to reduce the prevalence of hallux valgus and its associated complications, health and socioeconomic burden.