Intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of novel photographic foot print glass box (PFPGB) method in young healthy adults: An observational, cross-sectional study

The ink footprint method and photographic footprint method are used for measuring foot arches. Chippaux-Smirak index, Staheli index, and Clarke's angle are the parameters to assess foot arches. The aim of this study was to assess Intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of novel photographic foot print glass box (PFPGB) method in 19-to-21 year young healthy adults. The ink footprint method and photographic footprint method was conducted on 144 young healthy collegiate students of age 19–21 years both males and females. Chippaux-Smirak index, Staheli index, and Clarke's angle was measured with ink footprint method and photographic footprint. The intra-class and inter-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was evaluated for reliability(r). The photographic glass box method and ink footprint method, showed the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability test values greater than 0.9 and the ICC range varies from 0.92 to 0.98, which is classified as excellent reliability. Current study showed excellent intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of Photographic footprint glass box method evaluated by Chippaux- Smirak index, Staheli index and Clarke's angle in young healthy adults of 19–21 years. Hence it proves to effective tool for assessing foot arches offering precise measurements. • Foot deformities/dysfunction lead to pain, discomfort during walking or wearing footwear. • Foot evaluation plays an important role in clinical practice for professionals. • Foot evaluation methods are risky due to exposure to radiation and costly, time and space occupying. • Ink footprint method is a gold standard for measurement of foot angles and indices but lack generalizes applicability. • Photographic footprint method, clinically reliable in evaluating foot dimensions or angles.