• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.43-55
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• 1999

In today's society, many women wear high-heeled shoes, but the effect of heel height on lumbar lordosis has not been clearly defined. The objective of this study was to identify the influence of heel height and general characteristics of subjects on lumbar lordosis. The subjects of this study were 40 healthy women who were students of the Department of Physical Therapy, College of Rehabilitation Science, Taegu University. Flexible ruler measurement was used to measure the lumbar lordosis at barefoot, 3 cm and 7 cm high-heeled standing positions. The results were as follows: 1) Significant statistical decrease in lumbar lordosis was observed as heel heights were increased from barefoot to 7 cm high heel. 2) There were no statistically significant differences between lumbar lordosis according to three different heel heights and weight, body mass index. 3) Lumbar lordosis measured at different heel heights was related to subject's height. With increasing subject's height, lumbar lordosis that measured from each heel height was significantly decreased. As heel heights were increased from barefoot to 7 cm high heel, significant statistical decrease in lumbar lordosis was observed in the subjects whose height were 151~160 cm. 4) Intrarater reliability on lumbar lordosis taken with a flexible ruler was good, with Cronbach ${\alpha}$ values of 0.8971 for barefoot, 0.8107 for 3 cm and 0.9002 for 7 cm high-heeled standing positions.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.613-619
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• 2013

This study compares the gait characteristics of elderly women during barefoot walking and walking with sneakers. We measured foot angles, max foot pressure, peak plantar pressure of each plantar region, velocity of Center of Pressure(COP), and axis shifting of COP with an RS-scan system. Elderly women's foot angles were narrower when walking with sneakers than when barefoot walking. We found that the subtalar joint angle (representing ankle joint flexibility) affected walking stability. Regarding the peak plantar pressure of each foot region, pressures were high in the medial regions and the pressures greatly varied depending on the region measured during barefoot walking. The COP moved significantly faster when walking with sneakers than barefoot walking and suggests that elderly women walked faster in sneakers. Axis shifting of the COP decreased during walking with sneakers and indicated that gait balance improved when walking with sneakers. The findings of the present study can be utilized as foundational data for elderly women's gait characteristics as well as data for the production of functional footwear. Future research that focuses on various types of shoes, age groups, and gender are recommended for the development of more functional footwear for stable gaits.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.9-16
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• 2015

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to identify the effects of shoulder abduction strength and EMG activities of the selected scapular and shoulder muscles during isometric shoulder abduction. METHODS: Thirty-four healthy young females were recruited for this study. Surface EMG equipment with inline force sensor was used to determine the shoulder abductor strength and the activity of the serratus anterior (SA), upper trapezius (UT), lower trapezius (LT), and middle deltoid (MD) during three shoe heel height conditions: (1) barefoot, (2) 3-cm shoe heel height, and (3) 7-cm shoe heel height. RESULTS: Isometric shoulder strength showed statistically significant difference among the conditions (p<0.05), and post-hoc test showed lower strength during the 7-cm condition ($49.98{\pm}17.56kg$) than during the barefoot ($44.97{\pm}20.15kg$) and 3-cm conditions ($36.59{\pm}17.07kg$). Furthermore, EMG activities of the SA, UT, and MD appeared to be statistically significantly different among the conditions, with lower values in the 7-cm condition compared to the barefoot condition (p<0.05). EMG ratios (MD/UT and SA/UT) were lower during the 7-cm condition than during the barefoot condition (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that isometric shoulder abduction strength and EMG activities of scapular and shoulder muscles may be adversely changed with increasing shoe heel height.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1950-1953
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• 2020

Background: Ankle instability usually occurs after stroke, and contributes to unsafe walking and associated risk of falling in the affected patients. Objective: To investigate the effects of kinesiology taping (KT) on gait and balance ability (center of pressure, CoP) in patients with ankle instability after stroke. Design: One group, pre-post design. Methods: A total of 11 patients with ankle instability after stroke were enrolled. In all subjects, the gait and balance ability were assessed under 2 conditions: KT and barefoot. Gait and balance ability was assessed using GAITRite system and FDM-S platform. Results: Comparison between KT and barefoot condition, KT condition was significantly higher in velocity, cadence, step length, and stride length than barefoot condition (P<.05). KT condition was significantly lower in CoP path length and sway speed than barefoot condition (P<.05). Conclusion: KT indicated potential as a helpful method for walking and balancing ability in patients with ankle instability after stroke. Therefore, this study recommends KT as an option applicable to the stroke with ankle instability.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.78-86
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• 2020

Background: Flat-footed persons with collapsed medial longitudinal arch lose flexibility after skeletal maturity, resulting in several deformities and soft tissue injuries. Although arch support taping is usually applied in the clinic to support the collapsed arch, research on the use of different types of tape for more efficient arch support in flat-footed persons is lacking. Objects: The purpose of this study was to examine three conditions (barefoot, kinesio tape, and dynamic tape) and compare their effects on static and dynamic balance in persons with asymptomatic flexible flatfoot. Methods: Twenty-two subjects (9 females and 13 males) with asymptomatic flexible flatfoot participated in this study. The subjects performed the Y-balance test to measure the composite reach score. The subjects also performed a 30-second standing test to measure the center of pressure (COP) path length and a walking test to measure anteroposterior and lateral variability using the Zebris FDM system. One-way repeated-measures analysis of variance compared the three conditions applied to the subjects' feet for each balance variable. Results: The composite reach score significantly increased following the application of dynamic tape compared with barefoot and that of kinesio tape compared with barefoot. There was no significant difference in the COP path length during standing among the three conditions. Anteroposterior and lateral variability during walking significantly with dynamic tape application compared with barefoot. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that, in persons with asymptomatic flexible flatfoot, application of kinesio tape and dynamic tape may be effective in increasing the composite reach score in Y-balance test, whereas application of dynamic tape may be effective in reducing anteroposterior and lateral variability during walking.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.108-116
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• 2021

Background: Whole-body vibration (WBV) has been used to alleviate proprioceptive damage by musculoskeletal and neurological conditions. However, no study has determined whether wearing shoes while applying WBV can affect proprioception precision of the knee joint. Objects: This study aimed to determine the differences in the proprioceptive precision of the knee joint before and after WBV and to compare the proprioceptive precision of the knee joint between barefoot and shoe-wearing conditions. Methods: This study recruited 33 healthy participants. A passive-to-active angle reproduction test was used to measure the proprioception precision of the knee joint using an electrogoniometer, and the target angle was set to a knee flexion of 30°. Proprioception precision was calculated using the error angle (angular difference from 30°). Proprioceptive precision was measured in weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing positions before and after applying WBV for 20 minutes at 12 Hz in barefoot and shoe-wearing conditions. Mixed repeated analysis of variance was used to determine the differences in changes in the proprioceptive precision of the knee joint according to foot conditions. Results: There were significant improvements in the weight-bearing (p = 0.002) and non-weight-bearing (p < 0.001) proprioceptive precision of the knee joint after applying WBV. However, there was no significant difference in the change in proprioceptive precision of the knee joint after applying WBV between the barefoot and shoe-wearing conditions. Conclusion: WBV stimulation had an immediate effect on improving the proprioceptive precision of the knee joint. However, foot conditions (barefoot or shoe-wearing) during WBV application did not influence the proprioceptive precision of the knee joint.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.316-322
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to investigate muscle activation of lower extremity such as rectus femoris, tibialis anterior and soleus according to 0cm(bare foot), 4cm and 7cm heel height of shoe on the rocking surface in older women. 20 older women who did not have any lower musculoskeletal and neurological disorders in the past were participated in this study. Each subject was standing for 15 seconds on the level 8 of Biodex Stability System (BSS) while wearing 4cm and 7cm heel height shoes including bare foot. Electromyography was used to measure muscle activation of lower extremity, and the muscle activation was expressed as a percentage of maximal voluntary isometric contraction (% MVIC). We measured % MVIC of three muscles during 5 seconds except for the first 5 seconds and last 5 seconds. SPSS 12.0 program was used for this study. Repeated one-way analysis of variance(ANOVA) was performed to compare the significant difference among the muscles of lower extremities according to heel heights of shoe on the rocking plate. % MVIC of each muscle such as rectus femoris, tibialis anterior and soleus regarding heel heights of shoe had statistically significant differences (p<0.05). The results of contrast test were as follows; 1) % MVIC of rectus femoris had significant differences between barefoot and 4cm, and barefoot and 7cm. 2) % MVIC of tibialis anterior had significant differences between barefoot and 4cm, barefoot and 7cm, and 4cm and 7cm. 3) % MVIC of soleus had significant differences between barefoot and 7cm, 4cm and 7cm. The results indicate that all commonly responsive muscle on the conditions of barefoot, 4cm, and 7cm shoe height on the rcoking surface is tibialis anterior muscle. We found out that the more heels of shoe high, the more muscle activation increases. High-heeled shoes above 7cm remarkably increase the muscle activation of lower extremity and may result in muscle fatigue. Thus, these shoes may summate risk factors of falls in older women. We can acknowledge that the heels above 4 cm affect each muscle activation in lower extremity on the rocking surface.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to privide basic data for footwear development according to walking mechanics by comparing gait cycle difference between barefoot walking and walking shoes. The walking period was measured in 30 normal adult women with no foot deformity and abnormality. The first subject walked in sneakers and measured the cycle. And then, the subjects walked barefoot and the period was measured to obtain data. The data were taken form corresponding paired T-test. The results were as follows: In barefoot walking, the stance phase left side(p <.001), right side(p <.005), the loading response left side(p <.009), right side(p <.002) ), the pre-swing left side(p <.002), right side (p <.011), the double stance phase(p <.004) were increased and the mid-stance left side (p <.016), right side(p. 001), the swing phase left side(p<.001) was decreased. This suggests that barefoot walking increases the input of various senses of the foot, which makes stable walking possible. It is necessary to improve shoes based on the walking cycle in the future.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.1084-1089
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to compare and analyze the difference of the ankle joint movements during landing. Seven adult males voluntarily participated in the study and the average foot size of the subjects was 269.8 mm. Image analysis equipment and the ground reaction force plate (landing type) was used to measure th kinetic variables. As a result of this study, it was confirmed that the vertical ground reaction force peak point appeared once in the barefoot with forefoot, while two peak points appeared in the barefoot and functional shoe foot with rear foot landing. About ankle angle, fore foot landing ankle angle, the average with bare foot landing was $-10.302^{\circ}$ and the average with functional shoe foot landing was $-2.919^{\circ}$. Also about rear foot landing, ankle angle was $11.648^{\circ}$ with bare foot landing and $15.994^{\circ}$ with functional shoe landing. The fore foot landing, ankle joint force analysis produced 1423.966N with barefoot and 1493.264N with functional shoes. But, the rear foot landing, ankle joint force analysis produced 1680.154N with barefoot and 1657.286N with functional shoes. This study suggest that the angle of ankle depends on the landing type and bare foot running/functionalized shod running, and ankle joint forces also depends on landing type.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.155-161
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• 2024

Purpose : Wearing high-heeled shoes leads to foot and ankle instability, which requires leg muscles to remain in constant contraction. In order to adapt to the instability of the feet and ankles caused by wearing high heels, the muscles of the legs continuously repeat contraction and relaxation. Previous studies of the impact of stair climbing in high-heeled shoes have involved placing the entire stepping area of the shoe on the stair. However, high-heeled shoe wearers sometimes unconsciously contact the stair using only half of the stepping area. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine differences in leg and ankle muscle activation according to stepping area during stair climbing in high-heeled shoes. Methods : Twenty young women in their early 20s voluntarily agreed to participate in this study. We used surface electromyography to measure gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior activation in the right leg during stair climbing under three conditions: barefoot, using half of high-heeled shoe stepping area, and using the total of high-heeled shoe stepping area. Barefoot, half of high heeled shoe, and total of high-heeled shoe were used to evaluate the effects of different areas of the foot or high heels touching the stairs. Results : Both muscles showed significant activity differences among the three stair climbing conditions. Gastrocnemius activity was significantly different between the high-heeled shoe conditions (p= .032), and tibialis anterior activity was significantly different between barefoot stair climbing and climbing with half of the high-heeled shoe stepping area (p= .021). Conclusion : The stepping area increased as heel size increased, thus increasing excessive gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior activity to control excessive ankle joint movement. We infer that using half of the high-heeled shoe stepping area prevents muscle fatigue by reducing excessive leg and ankle muscle activation.