Jj. Eng et Mr. Pierrynowski, THE EFFECT OF SOFT FOOT ORTHOTICS ON 3-DIMENSIONAL LOWER-LIMB KINEMATICS DURING WALKING AND RUNNING, Physical therapy, 74(9), 1994, pp. 836-844
Background and Purpose. Although foot orthotics are often prescribed t
o alter the lower-extremity, mechanics during the stance period of gai
t, there is little documentation of the actual effect of foot orthotic
s on the movement of the lower-extremity joints during walking and run
ning This study examined the effect of foot orthotics on the range of
motion of the talocrural/subtalar joint and the knee joint in three di
mensions during walking and running Subjects. Ten female adolescent su
bjects, aged 13 to 17 years ((X) over bar 14.4, SD=1.1) who were diagn
osed with patellofemoral pain syndrome and exhibited forefoot varus gr
eater than 6 degrees and/or calcaneal valgus greater than 6 degrees pa
rticipated in the study. Methods. Thirty strides of walking and runnin
g on a treadmill were recorded for each of the orthotic and nonorthoti
c conditions for each subject using an optoelectronic recording techni
que. Analyses of variance for repeated measures were performed on the
range of motion of the talocrural/subtalarjoint and knee joint for eac
h plane of motion (ie, six separate analyses). The main factors of eac
h analysis were the effect of the orthotic (orthotic condition versus
nonorthotic condition), mode of ambulation (walking and running), and
phase of the stance period (contact, midstance and propulsion). Result
s. No differences were found in sagittal-plane movements. Reductions o
f 1 to 3 degrees occurred with orthotic use for the talocrural/subtala
rjoint during walking and running in the frontal and transverse planes
. The orthotics reduced knee motion in the frontal plane during the co
ntact and mid-stance phases of walking, but increased the motion durin
g the contact and mid-stance phases of running. Conclusions and Discus
sion. This study shows that corrections to the static position of fore
foot varus and calcaneal valgus can result in changes in transverse- a
nd frontal-plane motion of the foot and knee during walking and runnin
g.