Table 1 Content of baseline postal Health Survey questionnaire
| Concept | Measurement method | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Section A: General health | ||
| Perceived general health | MOS SF12 [33] | Physical and mental component summary scores |
| Physical function | MOS SF36 [32] | Physical functioning sub-scale |
| Anxiety and depression | Hospital anxiety and depression scale [34] | Anxiety and depression sub-scales |
| Participation | Keele Assessment of Participation (KAP) [35, 73] | 5-items assessing person-perceived, performance-based participation |
| Support | Emotional support: single question | Yes, no, no need |
| Physical support: single question | Yes, no, no need | |
| Life-style | Smoking status | Current, previous, never |
| Anthropometric characteristics | Self-reported height | |
| Self-reported weight | ||
| Footwear | Toe-box breadth line drawings (Additional File 1: Appendix 1) | Type most frequently worn by decade |
| Heel height line drawings (females only) (Additional File 1: Appendix 1) | Type most frequently worn by decade | |
| Physical activity | Short-Form International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) [36] | Frequency and duration of 4 activities performed during previous 7 days |
| Section B: Specific health problems | ||
| Hallux valgus | Self-completed line drawings [37] | 5 line-drawings for each foot depicting increasing severity of hallux valgus |
| Co-morbidities | Falls, fractures, chest problems, heart problems, deafness, problem with eyesight, raised blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, cancer, liver disease, kidney disease, poor circulation, rheumatoid arthritis | Yes, for any that apply |
| Intermittent claudication | Edinburgh Claudication Questionnaire [38] | Pain or discomfort in legs when walking, pain characteristics, pain location (leg manikin) |
| Bodily pain | Self-completed body manikin | In the past 4 weeks, have you had pain that has lasted for one day or longer in any part of your body? If yes, shade pain location on manikin |
| Site-specific questions | Have you had any problems with your hands or pain in your hands/hips/knees/feet in the last year? | |
| Section C: Foot pain | ||
| Foot pain characteristics | Side of pain | Both, right, left |
| Duration in past 12 months | < 7 days, 1-4 weeks, 1-3 months, 3+ months | |
| Foot injury: Have you ever injured your foot badly enough to see a doctor about it? | No, right foot only, left foot only, both feet | |
| Foot pain, aching, stiffness in last month [39] | No days, few days, some days, most days, all days | |
| Location: self-completed foot manikin [14] | In the past month, have you had any ache or pain that has lasted for one day or longer in your feet? If yes, shade pain location on foot manikin | |
| Foot pain intensity in last month [40] | 0-10 NRS with verbal anchors (no pain, pain as bad as can be) | |
| Complaint-specific functioning | Manchester Foot Pain and Disability Index [41] | 19-items across four constructs: pain, function, appearance, work/leisure |
| Coping strategies for foot pain |
Foot-related fatigue: single item Single-item coping strategies questionnaire [42] |
None of the time, on some days, on most/every day(s) 0-6 NRS with verbal anchors (never do that, always do that) |
| Healthcare use | Medication use in last month | For foot pain, for other pain |
| Consultation in last 12 months for foot pain | General practitioner, physiotherapist, podiatrist, chiropodist (NHS and private) | |
| Section D: Demographic/socioeconomic characteristics | ||
| Demographic characteristics |
Date of birth Gender | |
| Marital status | Married, separated, divorced, widowed, cohabiting, single | |
| Living arrangements | Alone, not alone | |
| Socioeconomic characteristics | Current employment status | Employed, not working due to ill-health, retired, unemployed/seeking work, housewife, other |
| Current/recent job title | Free text | |
| Current/recent job title of spouse | Free text | |
| Adequacy of income [43] | Find it a strain to get by from week to week, have to be careful with money, able to manage without much difficulty, quite comfortably off | |
| Higher education | Yes/no (If yes, age finished full-time education) | |
| Ethnicity | White UK/European, Afro Caribbean, Chinese, Asian, African, Other | |
| Section E: Work | ||
| Work status | Working full-time, part time, or off work due to ill-health | |
| Work performance | 0-10 NRS with verbal anchors (worst performance, best performance) | |
| Work limitation due to a health problem or physical limitation | Not affected, changed the way I do the job, reduced the number of hours, currently off work | |
| Job lock | Would like to leave work but can't due to financial needs | |