abstract older people enconter a reduced balance performance as they have lower sensory and motor abilities. balance problem pomote the risk of falling and subsequent disabling injuries and even death among older people.these problems can impose an extensive chargers on healthcare systems. insole and footwear are an interface between plantar surface and the ground and can regulate the sensory i...

Background The concept of instability footwear is to reduce stability, increase muscle activation and “tone”. Recently numerous brands have developed instability footwear for significant sales. Despite extensive marketing claims there are few empirical studies quantifying effects of instability footwear on muscle activity or motion in healthy individuals aside from Masai Barefoot Technology (MB...

BACKGROUND Use of protective footwear before entering the intensive care units is enforced with the assumption that it lowers the incidence of bacterial floor colonization. The present study was carried out to find the efficacy of protective footwear on bacterial floor colonization. METHODS The study was carried out in the intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital. The study was divided...

Maintaining postural stability is crucial, especially in hazardous occupational environments. The purpose of the study was to assess the role of three occupational footwear (low top shoe (LT); tactical work boot (TB) and steel-toed work boot (WB)) on postural stability when exposed to an occupational workload (4-h) involving standing/walking using the sensory organization test (SOT) equilibrium...

The present study examined whether a new footwear outsole with tread blocks and a hybrid rubber surface pattern, composed of rough and smooth surfaces, could increase slip resistance and reduce the risk of fall while walking on a wet floor surface. A drag test was performed to measure static and dynamic coefficient of friction (SCOF and DCOF, respectively) values for the footwear with the hybri...

Background The choice of footwear and custom modification of footwear in fast bowling in cricket lacks biomechanical and clinical evidence. This demonstrates that despite professional advice being available, elite fast bowlers continue to wear shoes that may not be appropriate for them. The aim of this study was to investigate the biomechanical effects of three cricket shoes commonly used by fa...

BACKGROUND Appropriate footwear for individuals with diabetes but no ulceration history could reduce the risk of first ulceration. However, individuals who deem themselves at low risk are unlikely to seek out bespoke footwear which is personalised. Therefore, our primary aim was to investigate whether group-optimised footwear designs, which could be prefabricated and delivered in a retail setti...

Multiple playing surfaces and footwear used in American football warrant a better understanding of relationship between different combinations of turf and footwear. The purpose of this study was to examine effects of shoe and stud types on ground reaction force (GRF) and ankle and knee kinematics of a 180° cut and a single-leg 90° land-cut on synthetic turf. Fourteen recreational football playe...

BACKGROUND Barefoot locomotion has evoked an increasing scientific interest with a controversial debate about benefits and limitations of barefoot and simulated barefoot walking and running. While most current knowledge comes from cross sectional laboratory studies, the evolutionary perspective suggests the importance of investigating the long-term effects. Observing habitually barefoot populat...

Thirty-five percent of people above age 65 fall each year, and half of their falls are associated with tripping: tripping, an apparently 'mundane' everyday problem, therefore, significantly impacts on older people's health and associated medical costs. To avoid tripping and subsequent falling, sufficient toe clearance during the swing phase is crucial. We previously found that a rocker-shaped s...