Perceived comfort and pressure distribution in casual footwear

INTRODUCTION:: Footwear manufacturers view comfort as a basic customer need that is growing in importance and is increasingly competing with fashion as a reason for buying shoes. A number of researchers have suggested that pressures and forces between the foot and the insole may influence perceptions of comfort (Chen et al., 1994). To date, no study has attempted to measure the relationship between pressure variables and perceived comfort in a range of commercially available footwear and, furthermore, little attention had been given to the dorsum of the foot with respect to comfort and pressure distribution. METHODS:: Twenty male subjects without foot pathology walked the length of a 10 m walkway at a self-selected pace. A 'perception of comfort' questionnaire was designed to measure perceived plantar comfort in six regions (rearfoot medial, rearfoot lateral, midfoot medial, midfoot lateral, forefoot medial and forefoot lateral) and perceived dorsal comfort in two regions (flex-line and lacing). Ten commercially available shoes were selected to represent two distinct groups in terms of perceived comfort: comfortable and uncomfortable. Plantar and dorsal pressure data were collected using a Pedar in-shoe system and Mikro-EMED system (Novel GmbH) respectively. Analysis of variance tests were used to determine differences (p<0.01) between the two shoe groups. RESULTS:: Peak Pressure was found to be significantly greater for the uncomfortable group both for the total plantar surface and for the all regions of the foot measured. Maximum force was significantly greater for the uncomfortable group for the rearfoot and forefoot regions but significantly lower for the midfoot regions of the plantar surface. For the dorsal surface maximum force was found to be significantly greater for the uncomfortable group. Contact area was significantly greater for the comfortable group in the midfoot regions of the plantar surface but was significantly lower for the comfortable group at the dorsal surface. DISCUSSION:: This study showed that perceived comfort at the plantar and dorsal surfaces could be related to peak pressure and maximum force in all regions and contact area in the midfoot region of the plantar surface and the total dorsal surface. The relationship between perceived comfort and peak pressure was consistently negative across the entire surface of the foot, whereas the relationship between maximum force and perceived comfort varied depending on foot region. This emphasises the need for researchers to address specific regions of the shoe when measuring comfort. The findings of this study suggest that pressure measurement systems could be used by footwear manufacturers' attempting to improve the comfort of their footwear.