Impact Shock Components and Attenuation in Flat Foot Running

Objective : The purpose of this study was to determine the differences in the head and tibial acceleration signal magnitudes, and their powers and shock attenuations between flat-footed and normal-footed running. Methods : Ten flat-footed and ten normal-footed subjects ran barefoot on a treadmill with a force plate at 3.22m/s averaged from their preferred running speed using heel-toe running pattern while the head and tibial acceleration in the vertical axis data was collected. The accelerometers were sampled at 2000 Hz and voltage was set at 100 mv, respectively. The peak magnitudes of the head and tibial acceleration signals in time domain were calculated. The power spectral density(PSD) of each signal in the frequency domain was also calculated. In addition to that, shock attenuation was calculated by a transfer function of the head PSD relative to the tibia PSD. A one-way analysis of variance was used to determine the difference in time and frequency domain acceleration variables between the flat-footed and normal-footed groups running. Results : Peaks of the head and tibial acceleration signals were significantly greater during flat-footed group running than normal-footed group running(p