Plantar pressures during level walking compared with other ambulatory activities

This study was designed to determine the magnitude of plantar pressures during level walking in comparison to other activities. These activities included climbing up stairs, going down stairs, a simple pivot while walking, and a crossover pivot while walking in normal individuals. Twelve volunteers, six men and six women, mean age 28 years, served as subjects. Data were collected on the dominant foot with an EMED-SF pressure sensor platform as each subject walked barefoot and did each of the five activities. Maximum plantar pressure (MPP) and pressure-time integral (PTI) was found in the metatarsal and heel regions. The results of repeated-measures analysis of variance tests showed that the five experimental conditions were statistically different for both MPP and PTI in the metatarsal and heel regions. Post hoc analysis indicated that MPP and PTI were decreased during the going down stairs condition in the heel and increased during the crossover pivot while walking and pivot while walking conditions for the metatarsal region.