We examined the hypothesis that awareness of foot position in terms of
the slope of the weight-bearing surface declines with age. We further
postulated that the decline would be due to a change in plantar tacti
le sensibility, and that footwear would further impair position judgem
ents. We compared 15 men aged over 65 years (mean age 73) with 36 men
aged under 40 (mean age 30) in terms of estimates of amplitude and dir
ection of surface slopes. We employed a ratio scale of 0-10 representi
ng actual slopes of 0 degrees-25 degrees in increments of 2.5 degrees.
In order to examine whether subjects overestimated high angles they w
ere told that the scale ranged from 0 to 15. We found significant diff
erences between the two groups in terms of estimates and the effect of
footwear. Psychophysical functions for estimate of slope were 0.95 fo
r the young when barefoot and 0.71 when shed compared with 0.80 and 0.
81 respectively for the older men. We conclude that sensitivity to foo
t position declines with age, mainly owing to loss of plantar tactile
sensitivity. Footwear impairs foot position awareness in both young an
d old. Loss of foot position awareness may contribute to the frequency
of falls in later life.