Results of the first Russian Delphi survey on the diagnosis and treatment of flatfoot in children

BACKGROUND: To date, there is no consensus regarding the diagnostics of flatfoot in children and approaches to its classification and treatment.

AIM: This study aimed to demonstrate the results of the first Russian consensus, performed according to the Delphi method, for the diagnostics and treatment of flatfoot in children.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Delphi survey and the RAND/UCLA and participated by 22 experts in their field. The questionnaire consisted of four main sections, namely, general clinical assessment, flatfoot diagnosis, classification approach, and treatment, including 179 close-ended and 11 open-ended statements in both rounds. A 5-point Likert scale was used to rank responses. The level of agreement was determined as follows: ≥70% of the experts agrees, the statement is accepted; <55%, rejected; 55%–69%, reassessment by experts in subsequent rounds. To assess agreement among experts, parameters such as general agreement, agreement without doubt by experts, and percentage of doubting experts were calculated. Mean (M), standard deviation (SD), and Cronbach’s alpha were calculated.

RESULTS: The statement was accepted with an agreement without doubt by experts ≥ 70%, with Cronbach’s alpha of ≥ 0.8. According to the survey data, in the two rounds using 179 close-ended statements, 96 statements were accepted, 63 were rejected, and no consensus was reached on 20.

CONCLUSIONS: This scientific work presents the results of the first Russian Delphi survey on the diagnosis and treatment of flatfoot in children with a unique number of experts (n = 22). The lack of agreement on some of the statements, even among experts, showed that consensus was a necessary first step toward standardizing the diagnosis and treatment of flatfoot in children.