Under researched somatosensory contributions to postural stability, in addition to high incident rates of foot injury in the physically active population, lead to two investigative studies. An initial research study compared variables of two postural stability assessment devices to determine reliability of outcome measures and commonality of outcome measures to dynamic postural control. A second study assessed which measures of postural stability were effective in differentiating between injured persons using foot orthotics and non-injured persons, and also compared effects of 3-month foot orthotic usage on measures of postural stability among three groups. In the first study, 23 healthy subjects tested on two separate occasions one-week apart, counterbalancing the testing order. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and Pearson product moment correlations were calculated and analyzed. In the second study, 15 patients diagnosed with plantar fasciitis or medial arch sprain were given custom orthotics and matched with 15 non-injured subjects given custom orthotics, and 15 healthy control subjects on gender, age, height, and body mass index. All 45 subjects were assessed on five postural stability tests (12 dependent variables) on seven occasions over a four-month period. Repeated measures MANOVA was employed to evaluate group, time and interaction effects for the outcome variables (α=0.05). Test-retest reliability, in the first study, ranged from moderate to high (ICC[subscript 2,1]=0.71 to 0.92) for all outcome measures. Pearson correlations revealed four statistically significant relationships (p< .05) between outcome measures (r=0.43 to -0.72). In the second study, nine variables were entered into repeated measures MANOVA demonstrating significant main and interaction effects. Post hoc univariate analyses demonstrated six variables with group main effects and three variables with time main effects. Interaction effects in post hoc analysis were non-significant. The moderate to high test-retest reliability observed for outcome measures in the first study is encouraging. Correlations between device outcome measures, while statistically significant, were low enough to suggest that each device provided unique information regarding postural stability. Results from the second study provide strong evidence that foot orthotic wear affects postural stability over time. The nature of test protocols suggests that functional postural stability testing aids in assessing effectiveness of foot orthotics. / Graduation date: 2002

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S. in materials science and engineering)--Washington State University, December 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Feb 19, 2010). "School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering." Includes bibliographical references (p. 37-39).

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Orthopaedics and Traumatology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Orthopaedic Surgery / Master / Master of Philosophy

No description available.

No description available.

Although custom-made foot orthotics are commonly prescribed to relieve lower limb injuries, few studies have documented their effects on the biomechanics of locomotion. The objective of this project was to quantify the effect of orthotic wear on kinematic, kinetic and electromyographic characteristics of the legs during walking and running. Fourteen subjects with custom-made foot orthotics were asked to run and walk over a 10-m walkway. Kinematic, kinetic and electromyographical parameters were recorded during all trials. One-way repeated measures ANOVA and paired students t-tests were used to evaluate the effect of orthotic wear as well as foot type (flat, normal). With orthotic wear, the activity of the soleus muscle was decreased for both groups of subjects with and without flat feet during running. The effect of orthotic wear on all other parameters was not significant. More in-depth studies are needed to generalize these results on the overall population of orthotic wearers.

Thesis (MAppSc in Physiotherapy)--University of South Australia, 1996

Thesis (MAppSc in Physiotherapy)--University of South Australia, 1993