Gimunová Marta, Zvonař Martin, Mikeska Ondřej
Faculty of Sports Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
Acta Bioeng Biomech. 2018;20(4):139-144.
The effect of age on structural foot characteristics as well as on the plantar pressure distribution has been shown previously. However, the number of studies focused also on gender gait differences of elderly is lacking. The purpose of this study was to compare dynamic gait characteristic in younger and older elderly and to investigate the gender differences as the life-long load and footwear choice differ in males and females.
61 healthy elderly participants were divided by age and gender into four groups: males 60-69, males 70-79, females 60-69 and females 70-79 years old. Plantar pressures were recorded during barefoot walking at naturally chosen speed using Emed-at (Novel GmbH, Germany). Three steps of the left foot of each participant were used for further analysis, furthermore, hallux angle, foot progression angle, and arch index were calculated by the Emed software from obtained foot- prints. To compare the differences between the analyzed groups, effect size obtained by Cohen's d was used.
Comparing the two age male groups, higher mean pressure was found in the 70-79 age group in region MH4, MH5 and mid-foot, suggesting a greater lateral load and decreased longitudinal arch of the foot. Comparing female groups, the higher mean pressure was found in the older age group in region MH1. In all other regions, the mean pressures were reduced in the older groups.
The results suggest that the effect of aging on plantar pressure distribution during the gait is affected by gender and should be considered when evaluating the gait of elderly.
年龄对足部结构特征以及足底压力分布的影响此前已有研究报道。然而，关注老年人性别步态差异的研究数量较少。本研究旨在比较年轻老年人和年长老年人的动态步态特征，并探讨性别差异，因为男性和女性一生的负荷和鞋类选择有所不同。
61名健康老年人按年龄和性别分为四组：60 - 69岁男性、70 - 79岁男性、60 - 69岁女性和70 - 79岁女性。使用Emed - at（德国Novel GmbH公司）在自然选择的速度下赤脚行走时记录足底压力。每位参与者左脚的三步用于进一步分析，此外，拇趾角度、足前进角和足弓指数由Emed软件根据获得的脚印计算得出。为比较分析组之间的差异，采用Cohen's d计算效应量。
比较两个年龄组的男性，70 - 79岁年龄组在MH4、MH5区域和足中部的平均压力较高，表明足部外侧负荷更大且纵弓降低。比较女性组，年长组在MH1区域的平均压力较高。在所有其他区域，年长组的平均压力降低。
结果表明，衰老对步态期间足底压力分布的影响受性别影响，在评估老年人步态时应予以考虑。
