Effect of foot\u2013floor friction on the external moment about the body center of mass during shuffling gait: a pilot study

Takeshi Yamaguchi,Hiroshi Kakehi,Kazuo Hokkirigawa,Kei Shibata,Hiromi Wada

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-91683-5

Abstract

Herein, we investigated the effect of friction between foot sole and floor on the external forward moment about the body center of mass (COM) in normal and shuffling gaits. Five young male adults walked with normal and shuffling gaits, under low- and high-friction surface conditions. The maximum external forward moment about the COM (MEFM-COM) in a normal gait appeared approximately at initial foot contact and was unaffected by floor condition. However, MEFM-COM in a shuffling gait under high-friction conditions exceeded that under low-friction conditions (p < 0.001). Therein, MEFM-COM increased with an increasing utilized coefficient of friction at initial foot contact; this effect was weaker during a normal gait. These findings indicate that increased friction between foot sole and floor might increase tripping risk during a shuffling gait, even in the absence of discrete physical obstacles.

Highlights

We investigated the effect of friction between foot sole and floor on the external forward moment about the body center of mass (COM) in normal and shuffling gaits
We must investigate how the friction between the foot sole and floor influences the risk of trip-induced falls during the shuffling gait and whether our results apply to elderly people with or without impaired health and mobility. This pilot study is the first attempt to investigate the effect of friction change between the foot sole and the floor on the external forward moment about COM during normal gait and shuffling gait
During the shuffling gait, the maximum external forward moment about COM applied at the initial foot contact was affected by the foot sole–floor friction

Summary

Introduction

We investigated the effect of friction between foot sole and floor on the external forward moment about the body center of mass (COM) in normal and shuffling gaits. Therein, MEFMCOM increased with an increasing utilized coefficient of friction at initial foot contact; this effect was weaker during a normal gait These findings indicate that increased friction between foot sole and floor might increase tripping risk during a shuffling gait, even in the absence of discrete physical obstacles. Menant et al.[23] pointed out that walking barefoot or in socks over a carpeted surface might provide excessive slip resistance that could cause tripping in older adults. In terms of slip-induced falls, many studies have investigated the effects of the friction coefficient on the risk of slip and slip-induced falls, resulting in proposals for a minimum friction coefficient at the shoe–floor interface to prevent s lipping[24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31]

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Discussion

Conclusion