Background: Epidemiological studies on hallux valgus (HV) are challenging owing to differences in sampling and diagnostic criteria across studies. This study aimed to indirectly clarify HV epidemiology using a national database.
Methods: The age- and sex-stratified annual number rate of HV correction (RHVC) per 100,000 people in Japan during 2014-2019 were examined.
Results: The average annual RHVC was 3.0. RHVC had unimodal (peak, 65-79 years) and bimodal (peaks, 15-19 and 70-74 years) distributions among males and females, respectively, and increased over time in males aged 50-54 and 75-79 years and females aged 80-84 years.
Conclusions: RHVC increases with increasing age and occurs commonly in female teens. The recent RHVC in Japan was lower than that reported in Europe and the United States, with an increasing trend among elderly people.
Level of evidence: III.
Keywords: Epidemiology; Hallux valgus; Hallux valgus correction; National database.
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