A comparison of foot kinematics in people with normal- and flat-arched feet using the Oxford Foot Model
Section snippets
Background
Human foot posture is generally characterised by the alignment of the foot skeleton and varies considerably between individuals. Variation from normal foot posture has long been thought to influence function of the foot and lower limb during gait, thereby predisposing to injury [1]. While the link between altered foot posture and injury is still unclear, several studies have demonstrated that foot posture influences lower limb muscle electromyographic (EMG) activity [2] and joint kinematics [3]
Participants
Participants with normal- and flat-arched feet were recruited from a related electromyography study involving healthy adults [17]. All participants were without symptoms of macrovascular (e.g. angina, stroke, peripheral vascular disease) and/or neuromuscular disease, or any biomechanical abnormalities that affected their ability to walk. Each participant's foot posture had been classified based on a foot screening protocol that included radiographic measurements obtained from weight bearing
Results
There were no significant differences between the groups for age (p = 0.17), height (p = 0.87), body mass (p = 0.72) or BMI (p = 0.73) (see Table 1). Significant differences were found for all radiographic measurements between the groups (p < 0.01) as indicated in Table 1. Gait velocity was also comparable between the normal-arched (1.30 ± 0.18 m/s) and flat-arched (1.33 ± 0.14 m/s) groups (p = 0.77) with the flat-arched group showing a slightly longer stride length (p = 0.07) and reduced cadence (p = 0.07), as
Discussion
This is the first study to investigate differences in foot motion between normal- and flat-arched feet using a rigorous protocol to classify foot type based on radiographic measurements. Previous studies investigating the association between static foot posture and dynamic motion of the foot during walking have been inconclusive and provided limited information regarding the reliability and validity of the methods used to classify foot posture [9], [20], [21], [22], [23]. Currently, the gold
Conclusion
Differences in foot motion between adults with normal- and flat-arched feet classified radiographically were detected using the OFM. People with flat-arched feet demonstrated greater peak plantar-flexion and abduction of the forefoot and internal rotation of the rearfoot during late stance phase. Moreover, decreased peak forefoot adduction and a trend towards increased rearfoot eversion were also found for this group. These findings support the notion that flat-arched feet have altered motion
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by the Australian Podiatry Education and Research Foundation (APERF). The authors would like to thank Gabriele Paolini from Vicon Motion System Ltd. for his assistance and support of this project. H.B.M. is currently a National Health and Medical Research Council fellow (Clinical Career Development Award, ID: 433049).
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