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Updated: Jul 22, 2026
Substantiating Appropriate Motion Capture Techniques for the Assessment of Nordic Walking Gait and Posture in Older Adults
Published on: May 12, 2016
Immediate Effects of a Novel Ankle Brace on Postural Stability Compared With Contemporary Braces: A Laboratory-Based
Olivia Raspotnik1, Christian Wilhelm1, Kimberly Beran-Shepler1
1*Department of Physical Therapy, Creighton University, Omaha, NE.
Background:
Falls in the geriatric population lead to increased risk of injury and health-care costs. Orthotics are commonly prescribed because of this risk or after injury. This study aimed to evaluate center of pressure (COP) sway and velocity, functional testing, and participant preferences in different braces.
Methods:
In this laboratory-based crossover study, four conditions were evaluated: the participant's own shoe, own shoe plus TayCo brace, own shoe plus Moore balance brace, and walking boot. A total of 18 ambulatory adults over the age of 65 completed three bilateral stance balance trials in which COP excursion and velocity were measured on a Bertec instrumented force plate followed by a Timed Up and Go test for each condition. Participants rated each condition for overall perceived stability and comfort on a visual analog scale, ranking them from 1 to 4.
Results:
There was significantly less anteroposterior COP excursion (P = .001; effect size [ES] = 1.03) in the TayCo brace versus the walking boot, and there was significantly less mediolateral COP excursion (P = .02; ES = 0.60) in the TayCo brace versus the Moore brace. There was significantly less overall COP velocity (P = .02; ES = 0.94) in the TayCo brace versus the Moore brace or walking boot. There were no significant differences (P > .05) between the rest of the conditions. Timed Up and Go times were found to be significantly higher (P < .05) for the walking boot compared with the other bracing conditions. There were no significant differences (P > .05) between the other orthotic conditions. The walking boot was perceived to be significantly (P < .05) less stable than the other conditions. Participants' shoes were perceived to be significantly (P = .03; ES = 1.44) more comfortable than the TayCo brace, but the TayCo brace was perceived to be significantly more comfortable (P < .01) than the Moore balance brace (ES = 0.74) and walking boot (ES = 2.37).
Conclusions:
The TayCo brace demonstrated decreased COP excursion compared with other conditions and performed similarly to the participants' own shoes. Further study should investigate the effects of this brace for clinical implementation.
