1. Gait Analysis on the Elderly Women with Foot Scan
- Author
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Hee-Eun Kim and Seong-Suk Kim
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Power walking ,humanities ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Geography ,Center of pressure (terrestrial locomotion) ,Subtalar joint ,Gait analysis ,medicine ,Physical therapy ,Foot region ,Plantar region ,Foot pressure ,Ankle ,human activities - Abstract
This study compares the gait characteristics of elderly women during barefoot walking and walking with sneakers. We measured foot angles, max foot pressure, peak plantar pressure of each plantar region, velocity of Center of Pressure(COP), and axis shifting of COP with an RS-scan system. Elderly women's foot angles were narrower when walking with sneakers than when barefoot walking. We found that the subtalar joint angle (representing ankle joint flex- ibility) affected walking stability. Regarding the peak plantar pressure of each foot region, pressures were high in the medial regions and the pressures greatly varied depending on the region measured during barefoot walking. The COP moved significantly faster when walking with sneakers than barefoot walking and suggests that elderly women walked faster in sneakers. Axis shifting of the COP decreased during walking with sneakers and indicated that gait balance improved when walking with sneakers. The findings of the present study can be utilized as foundational data for elderly women's gait characteristics as well as data for the production of functional footwear. Future research that focuses on var- ious types of shoes, age groups, and gender are recommended for the development of more functional footwear for stable
- Published
- 2013
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