Comparison of health-related quality of life between patients with different metatarsalgia types and matched healthy controls: a cross-sectional analysis

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Metatarsalgia can be considered to be a common complaint in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to compare quality of life (QoL) between participants with different metatarsalgia types and matched-paired healthy controls. DESIGN AND SETTING: A cross-sectional analysis on a sample of 124 participants of median age ± interquartile range of 55 ± 22 years was carried out in the University Clinic of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery, Ferrol, Spain. They presented primary (n = 31), secondary (n = 31) or iatrogenic (n = 31) metatarsalgia, or were matched-paired healthy controls (n = 31). METHODS: Self-reported domain scores were obtained using the Foot Health Status Questionnaire (FHSQ) and were compared between the participants with metatarsalgia and between these and the healthy controls. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were shown in all FHSQ domains (P ≤ 0.001). Post-hoc analyses showed statistically significant differences (P