BACKGROUND Footwear has been accepted as a therapeutic intervention for the foot affected by rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Evidence relating to the objective assessment of footwear in patients with RA is limited. The aims of this study were to identify current footwear styles, footwear characteristics, and factors that influence footwear choice experienced by patients with RA. METHODS Eighty pat...

BACKGROUND Foot pain in patients with rheumatoid arthritis is common and can be associated with excessive forefoot plantar pressure loading. Running and off-the-shelf orthopaedic footwear are commonly recommended to manage foot pain and discomfort in these patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of running footwear as an alternative to off-the-shelf orthopaedic footwear on pl...

BACKGROUND Previous work has found that people with diabetes do not wear their therapeutic footwear as directed, but the thinking behind this behaviour is unclear. Adherence to therapeutic footwear advice must improve in order to reduce foot ulceration and amputation risk in people with diabetes and neuropathy. Therefore this study aimed to explore the psychological influences and personal expe...

Limited research has examined the influence of different footwear on depth jump performance. The current study aimed to examine the influence of minimalist, energy return and conventional footwear on the kinetics, 3-D kinematics and temporal aspects of depth jump performance. Ten male participants performed depth jumps onto a force platform in each footwear condition. 3-D kinematics of the lowe...

BACKGROUND Foot problems are common in adults with inflammatory arthritis and therapeutic footwear can be effective in managing arthritic foot problems. Accessing appropriate footwear has been identified as a major barrier, resulting in poor adherence to treatment plans involving footwear. Indeed, previous New Zealand based studies found that many people with rheumatoid arthritis and gout wore ...

Background: Studies have reported that women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are not wearing NHS supplied therapeutic footwear; therefore it is likely they are wearing footwear sourced through retailers. Previous research gives limited information (largely associated with cosmesis) on people’s perceptions on the relationships that exist between retail footwear, well-being and quality of life. Th...

OBJECTIVE Custom-made footwear is the treatment of choice to prevent foot ulcer recurrence in diabetes. This footwear primarily aims to offload plantar regions at high ulcer risk. However, ulcer recurrence rates are high. We assessed the effect of offloading-improved custom-made footwear and the role of footwear adherence on plantar foot ulcer recurrence. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We random...

Background Despite the DLF report ‘Footwear – a quality issue’ (1991), examples of poor usage of provided NHS footwear continue to be reported [1]. For footwear to be worn, design and fit to meet clinical needs plus the patient’s non clinical criteria have to be addressed [2]. Locally a specialist footwear service provides semibespoke and stock footwear to people with RA related foot pathology....

BACKGROUND Footwear has the potential to influence balance in either a detrimental or beneficial manner, and is therefore an important consideration in relation to falls prevention. The objective of this study was to evaluate balance ability and gait patterns in older women while wearing prototype footwear and insoles designed to improve balance. METHODS Older women (n = 30) aged 65 - 83 year...

Method This is the world’s largest randomised comparative efficacy trial with one, two, six and 12-month follow-up. Children with clinically diagnosed calcaneal apophysitis (n = 124) were recruited. There were two treatment factors within the study. Factor 1 was two different types of in-shoe orthoses: a heel raise or prefabricated orthoses. Treatment factor 2 was footwear replacement. The alte...