The influence of heel height on plantar pressure

Abstract

One hundred and fifty four people with chronic musculoskeletal foot pain and bilateral pes cavus were randomly assigned to a treatment group receiving custom foot orthoses (n = 75) or a control group receiving simple ‘sham’ insoles (n = 79) (Fig. 2). Primary outcome measures were foot pain and function scores on the Foot Health Status Questionnaire (FHSQ) at 3 months (Bennett et al., 1998). Explanatory analyses were performed on the change in regional pressure-time integrals measured using the in-shoe Pedar-mobile system (Novel, GmbH, Munich, Germany). Following a familiarization period, data were collected at 50 Hz for approximately 40 steps on a 10-m walkway. To prevent a disturbance in gait pattern and ensure a natural gait, cadence and walking speed were monitored but not controlled. Nine straight-line walking steps from a random foot were selected in the Pedar-m expert 8.3 software (Novel GmbH, Munich, Germany). The foot was then divided into three anatomically and clinically relevant masks (rearfoot, midfoot and forefoot) for statistical analysis.