Plantar pressure distribution and gait stability: Normal VS high heel

Abstract

In this paper, the plantar pressure distribution and the center of pressure movement were studied and gait stability of high heels versus normal heels was observed. A group of ten young female participants without any previous lower limbs injuries were asked to wear shoes of different heel heights, namely, 0cm, 2cm and 4cm and walk at a speed of 3km/hr on a treadmill. The pressure that their body exerts on the ground was recorded and analyzed. A statistical analysis was conducted and observed for the center of pressure (p<0.05), peak pressure (p<0.05) and the gait stability. The center of pressure moved from the heel to toe as heel height was increased and the peak pressure moved to the forefoot region. Tukey post-hoc analysis was performed in order to observe the differences in peak pressure in the forefoot, mid-foot and rear foot region. It was found that as the subjects wore a 4cm heel height shoes, the peak pressure was increased in the rear foot regions of the right foot. This resulted from the fact that they tend to lean on their right foot owing to instability during gait.