The Impact of Foot Arch Morphology on Risk of Overuse Injuries in Amateur Runners: A Prospective Biomechanical Study
Bibliographic record
Abstract
The log arch structure significantly influences lower limb movement and response to repetitive stress, particularly among non-elite runners and physical activity practitioners. Current research has inadequately explored the relationship between foot structure and injury risk, as blood DNA sequencing has not definitively linked pes planus (flat foot) and pes cavus (high arch) to injury potential. This research investigates the connections between foot structure morphology, intrinsic foot muscle power, and genetic elements (SNPs) concerning repeated strain injuries through a comprehensive literature analysis. An analytical review was conducted, examining data from peer-reviewed studies sourced from Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed. Inclusion criteria encompassed genetic, biomechanical, radiographic, and cross-sectional studies on non-elite runners, including children and adolescents. Key metrics analyzed included navicular height, arch height index, calcaneal inclination angle, and toe and MTP joint strength, all in relation to injury risk. Data were analyzed descriptively and through correlations using Pearson correlation and logistic regression models. The findings indicated that flat feet are associated with higher instances of plantar fasciitis and shin splints, while cavus feet present an increased risk for stress fractures and tendinopathies due to inadequate shock absorption. Individuals with weak intrinsic foot muscles exhibited poor arch support, heightening injury susceptibility. Notably, 137 SNPs were linked to connective tissue, neuromuscular, and inflammatory disorders affecting arch morphology, with sex and BMI identified as significant outcome factors. Arch structure and intrinsic muscle strength are critical risk factors for overuse injuries. The study emphasizes the need for injury prevention strategies that integrate biomechanical assessments, muscle strengthening, and genetic evaluations.
Fetched live from OpenAlex and de-inverted. Abstracts are not stored in this database: the inverted indexes are 8.6 GB of the frame’s 9.3 GB of text, and the host has 13 GB free.
How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.003 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.002 | 0.002 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".