Biomechanical implications of walking with indigenous footwear

Bibliographic Data

ID8315643
AuthorsCatherine Willems (0000-0001-8565-764X, Department of Design KASK, School of Arts Gent 9000 Belgium, corresponding author), Gaetane Stassijns (0000-0002-9700-9065, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation University Hospital Antwerp University of Antwerp Edegem 2650 Belgium), Wim Cornelis (0000-0002-6605-6723, Department of Soil Management Ghent University Gent 9000 Belgium), Kristiaan D''Août (0000-0002-6043-7744, University of Liverpool), Kristiaan D'Août (Department of Musculoskeletal Biology Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease University of Liverpool Liverpool L7 8TX UK)
Year2017
Volume162
Issue4
Pages782-793
Publication date2017-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.23169
PMID28101944
OpenAlexW2576920298
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited52

OBJECTIVES: This study investigates biomechanical implications of walking with indigenous "Kolhapuri" footwear compared to barefoot walking among a population of South Indians. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten healthy adults from South India walked barefoot and indigenously shod at voluntary speed on an artificial substrate. The experiment was repeated outside, on a natural substrate. Data were collected from (1) a heel-mounted 3D-accelerometer recording peak impact at heel contact, (2) an ankle-mounted 3D-goniometer (plantar/dorsiflexion and inversion/eversion), and (3) sEMG electrodes at the m. tibialis anterior and the m. gastrocnemius medialis. RESULTS: Data show that the effect of indigenous footwear on the measured variables, compared to barefoot walking, is relatively small and consistent between substrates (even though subjects walked faster on the natural substrate). Walking barefoot, compared to shod walking yields higher impact accelerations, but the differences are small and only significant for the artificial substrate. The main rotations of the ankle joint are mostly similar between conditions. Only the shod condition shows a faster ankle rotation over the rapid eversion motion on the natural substrate. Maximal dorsiflexion in late stance differs between the footwear conditions on an artificial substrate, with the shod condition involving a less dorsiflexed ankle, and the plantar flexion at toe-off is more extreme when shod. Overall the activity pattern of the external foot muscles is similar. DISCUSSION: The indigenous footwear studied (Kolhapuri) seems to alter foot biomechanics only in a subtle way. While offering some degree of protection, walking in this type of footwear resembles barefoot gait and this type of indigenous footwear might be considered "minimal"

Ankle · Barefoot · Biomechanics · Foot (prosody) · Gait · Heel · Physical medicine and rehabilitation · Physical therapy · Population · Anatomy · Balance, Gait, and Falls Prevention · Diabetic Foot Ulcer Assessment and Management · Lower Extremity Biomechanics and Pathologies · Medicine

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