Article

Fifth metatarsal stress fractures are common in sports and often result in
delayed and non-union. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a
rigid carbon graphite footplate (CGF) on plantar loading during take-off and
landing from a jump. Nineteen recreational male athletes with no history of lower
extremity injury in the past 6 months and no foot or ankle surgery in the past 3
years participated in this study. Subjects completed 7 jumping tasks while
wearing a standard running shoe and then the shoe plus the CGF while plantar
loading data was recorded. A series of paired t-tests were used to examine
differences between the two footwear conditions independently for both takeoff
and landing (a = 0.05). The contact area in the medial midfoot (p < .001) and
forefoot (p = .010) statistically decreased when wearing the CGFP. The force-time
integral was significantly greater when wearing the CGFP in the middle (p < .001)
and lateral forefoot (p = .019). Maximum force was significantly greater beneath
the middle (p < .001) and lateral forefoot (p < .001) when wearing the CGFP,
while it was decreased beneath the medial midfoot (p < .001). During landing, the
contact area beneath the medial (p = .017) and lateral midfoot (p = .004) were
significantly decreased when wearing the CGFP. The force- time integral was
significantly decrease beneath the medial midfoot (p < .001) when wearing the
CGFP. The maximum force was significantly greater beneath the medial (p = .047)
and middle forefoot (p = .001) when the subject was wearing the CGFP. The maximum
force beneath the medial midfoot (p < .001) was significantly reduced when
wearing the carbon graphite footplate. The results of the study indicate that the
CGF is ineffective at reducing plantar loading during jumping and landing.

Langue : ANGLAIS