Evaluation of foot arch in adult women: comparison between five different footprint parameters

Foot arch determines the shape of the foot, whether it is normal, flat or high. Excessive body weight is known to be the main factor in altering the foot arches. The foot arches of adult women were determined based on five different footprint parameters (Clarke index, Chippaux-Smirak index, Staheli index, Arch index and the Harris-imprint index) and the relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and foot arches were studied. A total of 309 adult women from the age of 20 to 60 years were recruited in this study. The shape of participants’ feet were obtained and their left and right foot arches were determined using five different footprint parameters. Body weight and height were measured and BMI was calculated. Paired t-test and one-way ANOVA were applied to perform the statistical analysis. Our analysis showed that two third of the participants have different foot arches between the left and right feet. The Harris-imprint index exhibited the most significant (p=0.004) differences between the left (mean=0.168) and right (mean=1.011) foot arches. Most of the overweight (53%) and obese (15%) participants have normal arches; however the prevalence of flat and high arches is still higher in overweight (flat arch= 51%; high arch= 52% ) and obese (flat arch= 18%; high arch= 12%) compared to other BMI categories. Harris-imprint index was successfully studied as a suitable parameter in determining the left and right foot arches

Caesarean delivery and its correlates in Northern Region of Bangladesh: application of logistic regression and cox proportional hazard model

Background: Caesarean delivery (C-section) rates have been increasing dramatically in the past decades around the world. This increase has been attributed to multiple factors such as maternal, socio-demographic and institutional factors and is a burning issue of global aspect like in many developed and developing countries. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between mode of delivery and time to event with provider characteristics (i.e., covariates) respectively. Methods: The study is based on a total of 1142 delivery cases from four private and four public hospitals maternity wards. Logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard models were the statistical tools of the present study. Results: The logistic regression of multivariate analysis indicated that the risk of having a previous C-section, prolonged labour, higher educational level, mother age 25 years and above, lower order of birth, length of baby more than 45 cm and irregular intake of balanced diet were significantly predict for C-section. With regard to survival time, using the Cox model, fetal distress, previous C-section, mother\u2019s age, age at marriage and order of birth were also the most independent risk factors for C-section. By the forward stepwise selection, the study reveals that the most common factors were previous C-section, mother\u2019s age and order of birth in both analysis. As shown in the above results, the study suggests that these factors may influence the health-seeking behaviour of women. Conclusions: Findings suggest that program and policies need to address the increase rate of caesarean delivery in Northern region of Bangladesh. Also, for determinant of risk factors, the result of Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) indicated that logistic model is an efficient model

Development of new shoe-sizing system for Malaysian women using 3D foot scanning technology

The aim of this study was to develop and propose a standard shoe sizing system based on anthropometric measurements of Malaysian women's foot sizes and shapes. Participants were from the primary ethnic groups (Malay, Chinese, and Indian) aged 20 to 60 years old. Anthropometric measurements were obtained using a 3D foot scanner. Foot length was chosen as the primary parameter, while foot breadth and ball girth circumference were secondary parameters. A 5 mm increment is used to classify 15 sizes from size 4 until size 11, including half sizes. The increments taken to be 3 mm for foot breadth and 6 mm for ball girth. The eight shapes for these two parameters were then developed using alphabetical labels a, b, c, d, e, ee, eee and eeee. Finally, this new standard shoe sizing will be proposed to the manufacturers who will then create the corresponding lasts for the specified sizes. © 201

Caesarean Risk Factors in Northern Region of Bangladesh: A Statistical Analysis

Purpose: To explore the measurement of a scale of caesarean (C-section) risk factors and degree of risk contribution in different health facilities and to determine a suitable graphical representation (image) of caesarean cases. Methods: Based on seventeen indicators, a composite index was computed for each respondent and classified into three groups using Beta distribution of first kind. For the analysis of contribution of risk factors between private and public patients, principal component analysis (PCA) was also used. An attempt was made to visualise a suitable graphical representation of caesarean cases by independent component analysis (ICA). Results: The selected risk factors were more contributory to public hospital patients than to those in private hospitals on the basis of higher estimated value of range (R = 0.134) but a higher proportion of C-section occurred in private (93.4 %) than in public hospitals (30.3 %). On the other hand, PCA showed that the contribution of selected risk factors accounts for approximately 60.0 % and 68.5 % in private and public hospitals, respectively. Furthermore, from the various graphical representation, the numbers of private patients were more interlinked by ICA but not of the other graphical representations of PCA. Conclusion: We had expected the rate of C-section would be higher among public hospital patients than private hospital patients but the results obtained indicate the reverse. It seems that the combination of the propensity of private practice doctors to carry out C-section and the financial benefits on the part of private hospitals may be contributory factors to the caesarean section rates in private health facilities

Assessment of abdominal obesity using 3D body scanning technology

Abdominal obesity is an important contributor for health risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus and hypercholesterolemia. Therefore, the application of a proper method is important prerequisite in performing abdominal obesity assessment. In this study, we applied 3D body scanning technology to measure waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC) and waist to hip ratio (WHR) precisely in an effort to improve the current health assessment for abdominal obesity. A total of 200 Malaysian women with sedentary lifestyle, aged between 18 and 60 years participated in this study. Paired t-test was used to determine the differences between the automated (3D body scanner) and manual measurements of WC, HC and WHR. 3D body scanner measurements show that 27% of subjects had mild abdominal obesity (80 - 90 cm) and 34.5% of subjects had severe abdominal obesity (≥90 cm) based on WC cutoff points. Based on WHR cutoff points, 57% of subjects had abdominal obesity (≥0.85) while the remaining were without abdominal obesity (<0.85). Lower percentages of abdominal obesity prevalence were reported for both WC and WHR categories using manual measurements. We also found that in normal BMI category, 8.5% of subjects have mild abdominal obesity based on automated measurements while only 5.5% of subjects were identified on manual measurements. The result of this study indicated that 3D body scanner provided better assessment method as it enables detection of abdominal obesity in more subjects based on WC and WHR categories. Public agencies are encouraged to consider the application of 3D body scanning in health assessment of abdominal obesity