Table 1 Prevalence of foot pain in randomly selected populations

4,060 people aged ≥20 yrs (51% female) recruited by telephone interview (49% response rate) from north-western Adelaide, South Australia

Foot pain defined as affirmative response to 'On most days do you have pain, aching or stiffness in either of your feet?'

301 community-dwelling older adults (representing 31% response rate) aged 70–95 yrs (61% female) from Sydney, NSW, Australia

Disabling foot pain defined as: current foot pain, foot pain in the past month, plus at least one item marked on the Manchester Foot Pain and Disability Index [4].

784 community-dwelling older adults (representing 85% response rate) aged 65–101 yrs (57% female) from Springfield, Massachusetts, USA

Foot pain defined as: at least 'fairly often' foot pain in the previous week, or foot pain or discomfort 'most days' within the previous month [1].

3,417 community-dwelling adults (representing 84% response rate) aged 18–80 yrs (55% female) from North Cheshire and Manchester, England:

Foot pain defined as: foot pain during the past month lasting at least one day. 'Disabling' foot pain defined using the Manchester Foot Pain and Disability Index (defined above) [5].

135 community-dwelling older adults, all members of one private health insurance company (response rate of 28%)aged 75–93 yrs (59% female) Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Foot pain defined as: affirmative answer when asked whether they suffered from painful feet [7].

990 community-dwelling women (70% response rate) with a disability; aged 65 to ≥85 yrs from Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Chronic and severe foot pain defined as: 7–10 on 10-point VAS for ≥1 month within the last year and present in the previous month. Moderate foot pain defined as: 4–6 on VAS for ≥1 month within the last year, or pain rated as 7–10 on VAS lasting ≥1 month and not present within the previous month [10].