•  
  •  
 

LIMITS OF POSTURAL STABILITY IN VARIOUS OCCUPATIONAL FOOTWEAR

Abstract

Nathan O. Conner1, Sachini Kodithuwakku Arachchige2, John Garner3, Chip Wade4, Adam C. Knight1, Harish Chander1. 1Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS. 2Weber State University, Ogden, UT. 3Troy University, Troy, AL. 4University of Mississippi, University, MS.

BACKGROUND: Falls are one of the leading causes of both fatal and non-fatal injuries in the occupational population. While footwear is well known to impact postural stability, occupational footwear is designed for safety and can have design features that limit postural stability. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of various occupational footwear on limits of postural stability. METHODS: Twenty healthy males and females [age: 21±1.2 years, height: 178±8.3 cm, mass: 84±14.9 kg] performed the limits of stability (LOS) test on the BTrackS™ balance plate in eight different footwear conditions [barefoot, steel-toed work boot, tactical work boot, slip resistant shoes, standard military boot, minimalist military boot, firefighter's boot and participant's shoes]. The barefoot condition was performed first while the remaining seven were counterbalanced among participants. A one-way repeated measures ANOVA was performed with footwear conditions as independent variables and LOS score as the dependent variable with alpha level set at 0.05. RESULTS: A significant main effect difference between footwear types was present (p

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS