Prevalence of Plantar Fasciitis and Its Contributing Factors Among Working Women

Background: Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common musculoskeletal conditions affecting the foot, primarily presenting as intense heel pain at the site where the plantar fascia inserts into the anterior aspect of the calcaneus. Objective: To assess the prevalence and contributing factors of plantar fasciitis among working women. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 176 working females from Lahore over a duration of six months, following the submission of the study synopsis. Non-probability purposive sampling was used for participant selection. The inclusion criteria consisted of females aged 25 to 50 years, currently working with more than six months of experience, and working at least seven hours a day, while also wearing hard, non-cushioned footwear with no built-in arch support. The exclusion criteria included females with recent foot or lower extremity injuries, neurological conditions (e.g., diabetes, peripheral vascular disease), psychological or mental disorders, or those who did not consent to participate. After gathering the responses through the demographic and structured questionnaire, we analysed the data using SPSS version 26. The data analysis was carried out statistically using descriptive statistics; the continuous variables were presented in tables with means and standard deviations, and the ordinal variables were presented in frequency tables. The size of the sample was calculated by Results: Among 176 working women, the mean age of 32.86±3.96 years, the body weight of 65.15±8.14 kg, and the average height of 5.38±0.13 feet. The majority of participants were healthcare workers (46.6%), followed by office workers (22.7%). Average daily standing and walking durations were 5.96±1.91 hours and 4.66±1.52 hours, respectively. Only 33.5% exercised regularly. Chi-square analyses showed significant associations between plantar fasciitis and various factors such as age, body weight, occupation, standing duration, walking duration, exercise habits, and footwear type. Conclusion: The study identified a plantar fasciitis prevalence of 18.8% among working women, assessed via the Windlass test. Statistically significant associations were observed with age, body weight, occupation, prolonged standing and walking, lack of exercise, and footwear type (p<0.05).