Background: The flexible flatfoot is characterized by a flattening of the foot arch due to excessive bodyweight. The use of shoe insoles or taping methods has been identified as effective in realigning the navicular or calcaneus bones and addressing supination in pronated feet. Objects: This study aimed to analyze the difference between the arch taping attachment method, introduced in a previous study, and a novel taping method designed to provide support to the inner aspect of the heel bone in cases of flexible flatfoot. Methods: A navicular drop test was performed to discriminate flexible flatfoot. To analyze the differences in pressure distribution during walking for each taping method, the subjects underwent testing in the barefoot state with no attachments. The procedure included a sequence of arch taping and heel taping. Subsequent analysis of pressure distribution during walking utilized the GaitRite® system (GAITRite Gold, CIR Systems Inc.). Results: Arch taping and calcaneus taping significantly reduced the integrated pressure over time and peak pressure on the medial side of the midfoot for both feet compared to the barefoot state. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that supporting the inside of the heel through calcaneus taping, without direct stimulation to the longitudinal arch and navicular bone, is an effective intervention for flexible flatfoot.

Background: Flat feet can be identified by assessing the collapse of the medial longitudinal arch (MLA) and these conditions can trigger epidemiological changes in the feet. Many of previous studies compared the muscle activity of lower body in terms of intervention and dynamics to treat the structural defect of flat feet. However, few studies have investigated or analyzed the muscle activity of gastrocnemius muscle in the subjects with flat feet. Objects: This study investigated the differences in changes of medial and lateral plantar flexors in subjects with flat feet during bipedal heel-rise (BHR) task and analyzed the differences in muscle activity between two groups by measuring the electromyography (EMG) of abductor hallucis (AH), tibialis anterior (TA), medial gastrocnemius (MG), lateral gastrocnemius (LG). Methods: A total of Twenty one adult females participated in this experiment. Subjects were assigned to groups according to the navicular drop test. The task was applied to the leg, where the heel lifting action prevailed. The muscle activity of the medial and lateral feet plantar flexors was evaluated, and the % maximum voluntary isometric contractions (%MVIC) of these were compared. Results: For the difference between groups the muscle activity (%MVIC) of LG muscle was statistically significantly low in flat feet group compared to healthy feet group (flat feet: 64.57, healthy feet: 90.17; p < 0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study will contribute to identifying the muscle activities of medial and lateral feet plantar flexors among subjects with flat feet, which can cause abnormal epidemiological changes in the feet.

본 연구의 목적은 평발을 가진 여성 노인의 계단 하강 보행 시 일반인솔 및 아치 지지형 인솔을 적용에 따른 족저압력 및 압력중심점 변인들의 차이를 조사하는데 목적이 있다. 족저압력 분석장비(Pedar-X, Novel, Germany)를 사용하여 14명의 평발 노인을 대상으로 3종류(일반인솔, A형 인솔, B형 인솔)의 인솔착용 후 최대족저압력, 평균족저압력, 접촉면적, 압력중심점의 이동거리, 변위 및 최대범위의 평균값을 산출하였으며, 일원변량분석(one-way ANOVA)를 이용하여 인솔 종류간 평균을 비교하였다. 족저압력 변인 중 최대족저압력은 중족부의 M3, 평균족저압력은 M2, M3, M4 영역에서, 접촉면적은 M2, M3, 그리고 M6 영역에서 통계적으로 유의한 차이를 보였으며, 압력중심점 변인 중 전후축과 좌우축에서 압력중심점의 이동거리에서 통계적으로 유의한 차이를 보였다. 족저압력 평가결과 아치 지지 기능을 가진 인솔을 삽입한 A와 B형 인솔에서 족궁지지 영역인 M3의 최대압력은 B형 인솔과 A형 인솔이 일반인솔과 비교했을 때 높게 나타났다. 좌우축, 전후축 압력중심점의 이동거리는 A형과 B형 인솔 모두 일반 인솔에 비해 짧게 나타났다.

The purposes of this study were 1) to determine the effects of low-dye taping on peak plantar pressure following treadmill walking exercise, 2) to determine whether the biomechanical effectiveness of low-dye taping in peak plantar pressure was still maintained following removal of the tape during treadmill walking, and 3) to determine the trend towards a medial-to-lateral shift in peak plantar pressure in the midfoot region before and after application of low-dye taping. Twenty subjects with flexible flatfoot were recruited using a navicular drop test. The peak plantar pressure data were recorded during five treadmill walking sessions: (1) un-taped, (2) baseline-taped, (3) after a 10-minute treadmill walking exercise, (4) after a 20-minute treadmill walking exercise, and (5) after removal of the taping. The foot was divided into six parts during the data analysis. One-way repeated measures analysis of variance was performed to investigate peak plantar pressure variations in the six foot parts in the five sessions. This study resulted in significantly increased medial forefoot peak plantar pressure compared to the un-taped condition (p=.017, post 10-minute treadmill walking exercise) and (p=.021, post 20-minute treadmill walking exercise). The peak plantar pressure in the lateral forefoot showed that there was a significant decrease after sessions of baseline-taped (p=.006) and 10-minute of treadmill walking exercise (p=.46) compared to the un-taped condition. The tape removal values were similar to the un-taped values in the five sessions. Thus, the findings of the current study may be helpful when researchers and clinicians estimate single taping effects or consider how frequently taping should be replaced for therapeutic purposes. Further studies are required to investigate the evidence in support of biomechanical effectiveness of low-dye taping in the midfoot region.

The first purpose was to identify the plantar pressure distributions (peak pressure, pressure integral time, and contact area) during level walking, and stair ascent and descent in asymptomatic flexible flatfoot (AFF). The second purpose was to investigate whether peak pressure data during level walking could be used to predict peak pressure during stair walking by identifying correlations between the peak pressures of level walking and stair walking. Twenty young adult subjects (8 males and 12 females, age 21.0±1.7 years) with AFF were recruited. A distance greater than 10 ㎜ in a navicular drop test was defined as flexible flatfoot. Each subject performed at least 10 steps during level walking, and stair ascent and descent. The plantar pressure distribution was measured in nine foot regions using a pressure measurement system. A two-way repeated analysis of variance was conducted to examine the differences in the three dependent variables with two within-subject factors (activity type and foot region). Linear regression analysis was conducted to predict peak pressure during stair walking using the peak pressure in the metatarsal regions during level walking. Significant interaction effects were observed between activity type and foot region for peak pressure (F=9.508, p<.001), pressure time integral (F=5.912, p=.003), and contact area (F=15.510, p<.001). The regression equations predicting peak pressure during stair walking accounted for variance in the range of 25.7% and 65.8%. The findings indicate that plantar pressures in AFF were influenced by both activity type and foot region. Furthermore the findings suggest that peak pressure data during level walking could be used to predict the peak pressure data during stair walking. These data collected for AFF can be useful for evaluating gait patterns and for predicting pressure data of flexible flatfoot subjects who have difficulty performing activities such as stair walking. Further studies should investigate plantar pressure distribution during various functional activities in symptomatic flexible flatfoot, and consider other predictors for regression analysis.

The purpose of this study was to analyze lower limb muscle activity and 3D motion analysis according to change foot arch height during walking. We selected 9 young and healthy people who have been normal foot. And we selected 7 young and healthy people who have been flatfoot. So, people were divided into 2 groups and walked platform during 2 minutes twice for checked by 3D motion analysis. These data were characterized by EMG measurements of three muscles( tibialis anterior, medial and lateral gastrocnemius) while they were walking. The collected data were analyzed by Independent t test using the SPSS statistics program(Ver 12.0). In foot arch change, there were no significant difference in three muscles 3D motion analysis also found that there were no significant difference in joint angles. In this study was to analyze lower limb muscle activity and 3D motion analysis according to change foot arch, but there were no significant difference in 6 muscles neither joint angles.