Gender and foot orthotic device effect on frontal plane hip motion during landing from a vertical jump

Excessive hip motion has been linked to lower extremity pathology. Foot orthoses are commonly used to control motion within lower extremity joints when lower extremity pathology and dysfunction are present. Few studies have investigated the effect of foot orthoses on hip angular kinematics during functional activities. Eighteen females and 18 males performed a vertical jump with and without a prefabricated foot orthoses to determine the biomechanical effect of foot orthoses on hip kinematics when landing from a jump. Data collection included three-dimensional motion analysis of the lower extremity. Paired t tests were performed to determine if differences existed within genders with and without foot orthoses. At the hip joint, there was significantly less hip adduction motion in the foot orthoses condition as compared with the no foot orthoses condition in females (p < .05). There were no differences between foot orthoses conditions in males. Females appear to have a different proximal response to foot orthoses when landing from a forward jump than males.