Effects of shoe collar height and sole hardness on balance in older women

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether shoe collar height and sole hardness affect balance in older women. DESIGN: A randomized order, cross-over, controlled comparison. SETTING: Intermediate care institution and regional hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-two women aged 60 to 92 years (mean 76, SD = 9.03). The sample comprised 15 hostel (intermediate care) residents, 11 women who lived in a retirement village, and 16 women who lived independently in the community. OUTCOME MEASURES: Postural sway, maximal balance range and coordinated stability. MAIN RESULTS: The subjects underwent assessments of static balance (body sway) and dynamic balance (maximal balance range and coordinated stability) under five conditions: (1) in soft-soled bowls shoes, (2) in hard-soled bowls shoes, (3) in college-style shoes, (4) in college-style shoes with a high (boot) collar, and (5) barefoot. MANOVA analysis indicated that subjects were more stable when wearing the high collar shoes than when wearing the college shoes (P <.001) or when barefoot (P <.05). In contrast, subjects performed similarly in the balance tests in the soft and hard-soled shoes (P = .30) and no better than when barefoot (P = .12 and P = .93, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that subjects had better balance when wearing shoes with high collars than when wearing shoes with low collars and that sole hardness was not related to balance.