Gait cycle and pressure load values of the foot on different surfaces with Moticon Insole2 in a healthy cohort

Pedobarography is a common way to supervise the postoperative treatment following orthopedic and orthopedic trauma surgery. However, there are currently no established reference values and few information on associated factors. The aim of this study was to provide a frame of reference for repeat pedobarographic measurements with the Moticon System on different but standardized surfaces for a healthy population.

Pedobarography was performed on 76 participants using pressure-sensitive insoles. All participants had no pathologies of the feet. A standardized parcours on flat ground, stairs, inclined plane and uneven ground was performed, wearing mostly everyday footwear. Differences in pedobarography were determined for age (< 40 years/≥40 years), gender and BMI (≤ 24.9/>24.9 kg/m²).

Over the whole parcours, the mean total pressure was 22 ± 5 kPA with a maximum pressure of 97 ± 12 kPa. The mean step duration was 0.59 ± 0.1 s with a stance duration time of 0.73 ± 0.07 s, swing duration time of 0.46 ± 0.05 s and a resulting mean gait cycle time of 1.17 ± 0.08 s. A reference range of 13.8-36.6 kPa was assessed for the mean forefoot pressure, respectively 7.6-28.4 kPa (hindfoot), 10.1-28.7 kPa (medial column) 13.3-38.3 kPa (lateral column). Except for the mean forefoot pressure (p = 0.072), significantly higher mean and maximum pressures (p < 0.001-0.045) were found for women. Furthermore, significantly longer step duration (p = 0.005), swing duration time (p = 0.013), mean duration of the gait cycle (p = 0.016) and gait line (p = 0.001) were found for men. There were no significant differences for the gait parameters between age - and BMI subgroups.

In this pressure load analysis, an association of pedobarographic results with gender has been demonstrated. Gender-adjusted reference values are proposed to enable reliable interpretation of pedobarographic data to guide treatment after orthopedic and trauma surgery.