“A study to evaluate the effect of intrinsic foot muscle strengthening exercises on foot postural deviations in kathak dancers”: an experimental study

Background: Kathak is the typical form of Indian classical dancing originated in northen India. The normal stance position of kathak dancers during the performance consists of overly turning out the foot. This results in the typical, functional hyper pronated foot. So, the purpose of the study was to find of the effects of intrinsic foot muscles strengthening exercises on foot postural deviations in the Kathak dancers. Objective: To evaluate the effect of intrinsic foot muscle strengthening exercises on foot postural deviation in Kathak dancers. Methodology: 40 asymptomatic femalebetween age of 8-23 years were randomly divided into two groups. Group-A performed intrinsic foot muscle strengthening exercises performed intrinsic foot muscle strengthening exercises and Group-B was the control group, not participating in any intervention. The duration of treatment was 4 weeks. The outcome measures were measured at 0 day and 4th week. Outcome Measure– Navicular Drop Test (NDT), Foot Posture Index-6 (FPI-6). Data Analysis: Data were analysed using SPPS statistical software version 20.0 for windows. Results: Group-A showed significant reduction in NDT and FPI-6(p<0.05) in a subjects treated with intrinsic foot muscle strengthening exercises. Conclusion: It is concluded that intrinsic foot muscle strengthening exercises are effective in reducing navicular drop test and foot posture index in female Kathak dancers.