The plantar reflex in young healthy adults

The plantar reflex was empirically observed to be relatively absent in Afri cans about three decades ago. It was hypothesised that barefoot walking tha t was the custom of the patients studied at the time, might have made the s oles of the feet insensitive to stimulation, In a sample of 193 young adult s who do not walk barefoot and had no clinical evidence of hyperkeratosis o r callosities on the soles, the plantar reflex was absent in 27%. This find ing suggests that the absence of the reflex is not necessarily consequent o n previous trauma to the soles in an African community. Lack of comparative data showing the pattern of the plantar reflex in different communities ma kes it difficult to judge whether the frequency found in this study is usua l, high or relatively low.