Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Practice Analysis Task Force
- Introduction
- Task Force Selection
- Survey Return Rate
- Results Related to Professional Background, Work Setting and Demographic Information
- Results Related to Domains, Tasks and Knowledge and Skill Statements
- Domain Ratings
- Task Ratings
- Knowledge and Skills Statements
- Results Related to Practice Areas and Devices
- Highlights
©2025 by the American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics & Pedorthics, Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this document may be produced in any form without written permission of the American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics & Pedorthics, Inc.
Practice Analysis of Certified Pedorthists
January 2017
Results Related to Professional Background, Work Setting and Demographic Information
This section provides background information regarding the sample of ABC Certified Pedorthists. The survey included a questionnaire regarding professional history, work environment, educational background and demographic information.
The overall sample responding to the survey was predominantly male, between 45 and 64 years old and Caucasian (77%) and shown in Tables 1, 2 and 3.
Table 1
| Female | 32% |
| Male | 65% |
| Prefer not to answer | 3% |
| Total | 100% |
Table 2
| 25 to 34 | 10% |
| 35 to 44 | 19% |
| 45 to 54 | 28% |
| 55 to 64 | 34% |
| 65 or over | 5% |
| Prefer not to answer | 4% |
| Total | 100% |
Table 3
| African-American/Black | 2% |
| Asian | 5% |
| Caucasian, not of Hispanic origin | 77% |
| Hispanic/Latino/Spanish origin | 4% |
| American Indian or Alaska Native | 1% |
| Pacific Islander | 1% |
| More than one race or ethnicity | 1% |
| Other | 1% |
| Prefer not to answer | 8% |
| Total | 100% |
Many respondents have earned higher-level educational degrees than is required for entry into the profession, as seen in Table 4. Almost one-third (32%) of respondents have a Bachelor’s degree 28% have some college, 16% have an Associate’s degree and 9% have a Master’s degree.
Table 4
| High school or GED | 10% |
| Some college | 28% |
| Associate’s degree | 16% |
| Bachelor’s degree | 32% |
| Master’s degree | 9% |
| Doctorate | 5% |
| Total | 100% |
As shown in Table 5, many respondents held multiple other ABC credentials, with certified orthotic fitter (CFo) being most common (14%); other fitter credentials were also represented, along with a smaller number of practitioners, technicians and assistants.
Table 5
| Certified Pedorthist–C.Ped | 100% |
| Certified Orthotist–CO | 4% |
| Certified Prosthetist–CP | 1% |
| Certified Prosthetist-Orthotist–CPO | 1% |
| Certified Fitter-orthotics–CFo | 14% |
| Certified Fitter-mastectomy–CFm | 1% |
| Certified Fitter-orthotics and mastectomy–CFom | 2% |
| Certified Fitter-therapeutic shoes–CFts | 2% |
| Certified Technician-Orthotic–CTO | 1% |
| Certified Technician-Prosthetic–CTP | 1% |
| Certified Technician-Prosthetic Orthotic–CTPO | 0% |
| Certified Orthotic Assistant–COA | 3% |
| Certified Prosthetic Assistant–CPA | 1% |
| Certified Prosthetic Orthotic Assistant–CPOA | 3% |
As seen in Table 6, respondents were relatively experienced in pedorthics, with an average of 14 years of experience.
Table 6
| Average | 14.2 |
Respondents worked across a range of settings, with the greatest proportion in a privately owned, single location retail setting (21%), followed by privately-owned, single location pedorthic practice as shown in Table 7. Orthotic and prosthetic practices (single and multi-location, private and publicly owned) combined to account for almost 25% of respondents.
Table 7
| Single location retail setting–privately owned | 21% |
| Multi-facility retail setting–privately owned | 9% |
| Single location pedorthic practice–privately owned | 13% |
| Multi-facility pedorthic practice–privately owned | 5% |
| Single location orthotic and prosthetic practice– privately owned | 6% |
| Multi-facility orthotic and prosthetic practice– privately owned | 11% |
| Multi-facility orthotic and prosthetic practice– publicly owned | 8% |
| Medical practice–privately owned | 6% |
| Hospital-based practice | 3% |
| DME/HME facility | 7% |
| Sport/athletic company | <1% |
| University-based practice | 1% |
| Central fabrication center/company | 4% |
| Other | 6% |
| Total | 100% |
In Table 8, most respondents reported that they work in settings with 1 to 5 pedorthic employees (88%).
Table 8
| 1-5 | 88% |
| 6-10 | 7% |
| 11-15 | 3% |
| 16 or more | 2% |
| Total | 100% |
As shown in Table 9, respondents spent the largest percentage of their work time (41%) performing clinical pedorthic patient care, followed by pedorthic fabrication and administration (17% each), with retail pedorthics representing 16% of their time. Respondents also spent a significant amount of time (9%) in continuing education.
Table 9
| Clinical pedorthic patient care (e.g., patient assessment, formulation of the treatment plan, implementation of pedorthic plan, follow-up patient care) | 41% |
| Retail pedorthic services (e.g., provision of nonprescription shoes, inserts) | 16% |
| Pedorthic fabrication | 17% |
| Continuing education | 9% |
| Administration (e.g., documentation, reimbursement, marketing, management) | 17% |
| Other | <1% |
| Total | 100% |
As seen in Table 10, respondents’ pedorthic patients were equally likely to be adults and geriatric patients (45% each) and the remaining 10% were pediatric.
Table 10
| Pediatric (0 to 18 years) | 10% |
| Adult (19 to 65 years) | 45% |
| Geriatric (more than 65 years) | 45% |
| Total | 100% |
The percentage of patients in each diagnostic category is shown in Table 11. Diabetes accounted for the greatest percentage of patients (48%), about two-thirds of whom had diabetes only (diabetes only patients thus totaled about one-third of all pedorthic patients). The next most commonly seen diagnostic categories were arthritis (14%) and posterior tibial tendon dysfunction (13%). The most commonly mentioned Other diagnostic category was plantar fasciitis.
Table 11
| Diabetes | 48% |
| Diabetes only | 32% |
| Diabetes with ulceration | 10% |
| Diabetes with amputation | 6% |
| Posterior Tibial Tendon Dysfunction | 13% |
| Arthritis | 14% |
| Trauma | 8% |
| Congenital | 11% |
| Other diagnostic categories | 6% |
| Total | 100% |
More than half of diabetes patients (51%) had significant peripheral neuropathology, as shown in Table 12.
Table 12
| 51% |
As shown in Table 13, respondents used CAD/CAM in 31% of their custom pedorthic devices.
Table 13
| 13% |
Regarding custom foot orthoses, 47% of these were fabricated onsite and 53% were outsourced to a central fabrication facility. Regarding custom AFOs, 43% of respondents indicated these were outsourced to a central fabrication facility, 22% indicated these were fabricated onsite and 35% did not provide any custom AFOs, as shown in Table 14.
Table 14
| Custom Foot Orthoses | Custom AFOs | |
|---|---|---|
| Onsite | 47% | 22% |
| Central fabrication | 53% | 43% |
| Not applicable/do not provide | 0% | 35% |
| Total | 100% | 100% |
Of the custom foot orthoses provided by respondents, more than half (56%) were fabricated utilizing impression foam, 25% were digitized/scanned and 17% were hand cast (see Table 15).
Table 15
| Hand cast | 17% |
| Impression foam | 56% |
| Digitized/scanned | 25% |
| Other | 2% |
| Total | 100% |
