Investigation of gait protocols for plantar pressure measurement of non-pathological subjects using a dynamic pedobarograph

There is a clear need for a consistent and representative protocol for the measurement of plantar pressures. The purpose of this study was to compare the plantar pressures produced by five different modes of walking: full gait control (FGC), no gait control (NGC), stride length control (SLC), stride rate control (SRC) and the first step (FS). Ten non-pathological subjects recorded five trials for each protocol in a random order. For each trial subjects walked barefoot over a dynamic pedobarograph. Seven areas of the foot, the heel, all five metatarsal heads (MTH) and the great toe (GT), were interactively selected and analysed. Two parameters of pressure measurement were investigated, peak pressures and peak pressure time integrals, with attention to the consistency of the data (coefficient of variation for five trials) as well as the mean values. This investigation found the pressure values of the protocols to be very similar. No significant differences were found between protocols for all areas or for individual areas for either parameter. This was despite the FS protocol having a significantly longer contact time (P < 0.001) than the other protocols. Averaged across all areas of the foot the protocols where stride length was controlled (SLC and FGC) were found to be the most consistent for both parameters and control of this variable is recommended for increased consistency and reliability. However. the differences between protocols were still small. For the heel the first step was noticeably the most consistent protocol. The central areas of the Foot (heel and MTHs 2, 3 and 4) produced more consistent pressure values than the peripheral areas (MTHs 1 and 5 and the GT). (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.