THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SHAM INSOLES VERSUS PREFABRICATED BIOSOLE-GEL™ INSOLES, CUSTOM-MADE SOLE SUPPORTS™ ORTHOTICS OR CUSTOM-MADE CANADIAN ORTHOTICS LABORATORY LTD. ORTHOTICS FOR THE TREATMENT OF PLANTAR FASCIITIS IN CANADIAN MILITARY PERSONNEL.

Abstract

Currently the Canadian military does not provide a clinical treatment protocol manual for the treatment of its members for the treatment of plantar fasciitis. In March 2014 the physiotherapy staff at Canadian Forces Base Shilo (CFB Shilo) attended a civilian conference at which it was advised that prefabricated insoles were more effective at treating plantar fasciitis than custom-made orthotics. This then lead to an overnight change in the previous treatment protocol of providing military personnel at CFB Shilo who had been diagnosed with plantar fasciitis with two sets of custom-made Sole Supports™ orthotics to providing them with a set of prefabricated BioSole-Gel™ insoles instead. No research was conducted by the Canadian military to support this change. Personnel who had been transferred from other CFB regions were provided with whatever was available in their geographic region, mostly commonly either a prefabricated insole or a custom-made orthotic made from a subtalar neutral cast. As evidence-base practice is now the gold-standard in treatment measures this research is being proposed to determine whether the treatment for plantar fasciitis in Canadian military personnel should be a prefabricated BioSole-Gel™ insole, a custom-made Sole Supports™ orthotic, a subtalar neutral rigid custom-made orthotic from Canadian Orthotics Laboratory Ltd. or a sham insole. This 4-armed parallel study will be conducted by randomly allocating 324 Canadian military personnel deemed to be suffering from plantar fasciitis, into four evenly divided groups who will then receive one of the above mentioned devices, alongside a stretching protocol. At the commencement of this study participants will be asked to complete a Lower Extremity Functional Scale questionnaire (LEFS) as well as a Foot Status Health Questionnaire (FSHQ). This will be repeated at 4 weeks, 12 weeks, at the 26 week mid-point and at the conclusion of the study at one year. Once completed analysis of these questionnaires will be carried out to determine whether in fact there is a difference in outcomes for the four treatment options. Once analysed it is hoped that this information can be used to provide evidence based guidelines for the treatment protocol for plantar fasciitis for Canadian military personnel.