Abstract
Foot pathologies can negatively influence foot function, consequently impairing gait during daily activity, and severely impacting an individual’s quality of life. These pathologies are often painful and correspond with high or abnormal plantar pressure, which can result in asymmetry in the pressure distribution between the two feet. There is currently no general consensus on the presence of asymmetry in able-bodied gait, and plantar pressure analysis during gait is in dire need of a standardized method to quantify asymmetry. This paper investigates the use of plantar pressure asymmetry for pathological gait diagnosis. The results of this study involving plantar pressure analysis in fifty one participants (31 healthy and 20 with foot pathologies) support the presence of plantar pressure asymmetry in normal gait. A higher level of asymmetry was detected at the majority of the regions in the feet of the pathological population, including statistically significant differences in the plantar pressure asymmetry in two regions of the foot, metatarsophalangeal joint 3 (MPJ3) and the lateral heel. Quantification of plantar pressure asymmetry may prove to be useful for the identification and diagnosis of various foot pathologies.
Highlights
Gait is one of the most frequently used forms of human movement during daily activity
Between-session results showed good reliability, with all regions, apart from the lesser toes and midfoot, achieving intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values greater than 0.80 (Table 2). These results indicated that the plantar pressure could be measured consistently
The findings show significant regional plantar pressure asymmetry, several limitations are present in this study
Summary
Gait is one of the most frequently used forms of human movement during daily activity. Gait is represented by out of phase leg movement, in which each leg successively shifts from one phase of the gait cycle to the next. The gait cycle is fundamentally divided into stance and swing phases. The stance phase accounts for 60% of the total gait cycle, during which the foot is in contact with the ground and bears the full weight of the body. The swing phase comprises the remaining 40% of the gait cycle and begins at the toe off of the foot. During this phase the foot is off the ground and swinging forward to begin the stance, while the body weight is transferred to the other foot (Figure 1) [1,2]
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