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Effects of Footwear on Measurements of Balance and Gait in Women Between the Ages of 65 and 93 Years

SA Arnadottir, PT, was a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at the time this research was completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for her Master of Science degree in physical therapy
VS Mercer, PT, PhD, is Assistant Professor, Division of Physical Therapy, Department of Allied Health Sciences, CB# 7135, Medical School Wing E, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7135 (USA) (vmercer{at}css.unc.edu).

Address all correspondence to Dr Mercer

Background and Purpose. Footwear is not consistently standardized in the administration of the Functional Reach Test (FRT), Timed Up & Go Test (TUG), and 10-Meter Walk Test (TMW). This study was conducted to determine whether footwear affected performance on these tests in older women. Subjects. Thirty-five women, aged 65 to 93 years, were recruited from assisted living facilities and retirement communities. Methods. Each subject performed the FRT, TUG, and TMW while wearing walking shoes, wearing dress shoes, and barefooted. Because of space constraints at the facilities where the testing was performed, 22 subjects performed the FRT and TUG on a linoleum floor and 13 subjects performed the tests on a firm, low-pile, carpeted floor. All 35 subjects completed the TMW on a firm, low-pile, carpeted floor. One-way repeated-measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs) and a Tukey Honestly Significant Difference test were used to compare the outcomes for the 3 footwear conditions, with separate ANOVAs conducted for the different floor surfaces for the FRT and TUG. Results. Subjects performed better on the FRT when barefooted or wearing walking shoes compared with when they wore dress shoes, regardless of floor surface. Differences were found among all footwear conditions for the TUG performed on the linoleum floor and for the TMW. For these tests, the women moved fastest in walking shoes, slower barefooted, and slowest wearing dress shoes. Conclusion and Discussion. Footwear should be documented and should remain constant from one test occasion to another when the FRT, TUG, and TMW are used in the clinic and in research. Footwear intervention may improve performance of balance and gait tasks in older women.

Key Words: Aging • Balance • Footwear • Gait • Measurement

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