RESUMO
Background: Kathak being one of the very complex Indian classical dance forms, has a greater emphasis on foot work thus putting substantial amount of stress over foot which leads to weakness of intrinsic foot muscles, flat foot and functional impairments. Hence current study aimed to study the impact of intrinsic foot muscle strengthening on foot posture and functional activity among female kathak dancers with flat feet. Methods: In this Quasi-Experimental Study, 30 females kathak dancers with flat feet between the age group of 18-40 were selected according the inclusion and exclusion criteria from different Kathak dance academies in Pimpri and Pune. All participants were given intrinsic foot muscle strengthening (5 exercises) for 2 times a week for 4 weeks which were progressed after 2 weeks. Pre and post treatment assessments were done for foot deviations and foot functional activity by Foot posture index and foot function index respectively. Results: Paired T test for pre and post treatment analysis was done with statistical. significant at P<0.05 and 95% confidence interval. FFI score was reduced post treatment with mean difference of 1.26 which was statistically insignificant (p>0.05) but clinically significant. There was no statistically as well as clinically significant difference between the pre and post treatment FPI scores of both right and left leg (p>0.05). Conclusions: Intrinsic foot muscle training showed clinically significant improvement in foot function index but did not show any improvement in foot posture.