Assessment of the Impact of Positive Heels (Plantarflexion) and Negative Heels (Dorsiflexion) Shoes on Human Walking Gait

Abstract

Many studies have proposed that footwear design such as shoe body, insoles, heel height and heel position can affect human walking gait. In this study, two designs namely the positive heels (PHS) and negative heels shoes (NHS) were investigated to understand its impact on gait kinematics and kinetics. Experimental results showed that different shoe designs which impose plantarflexion or dorsiflexion on the foot would lead to changes of the joint kinematics and kinetics in the sagittal plane. PHS would cause a significantly larger ankle plantarflexion, larger ankle plantarflexion moment, larger knee adduction moment and larger hip flexion moment. On the other hand, NHS did not induce large differences compared to the baseline design, only causing a significantly larger ankle dorsiflexion. This study has given an insight on how the wearing of positive heels and negative heels shoes can affect the kinematics and kinetics of the lower limb. The results can be useful for allied health professionals such as Physiotherapists and Podiatrists who are advising patients on footwear choices.