Article

High-heeled shoes are associated with instability and falling, leading to
injuries such as fracture and ankle sprain. This study investigated the effects
of habitual wearing of high-heeled shoes on the body's center of mass (COM)
motion relative to the center of pressure (COP) during gait. Fifteen female
experienced wearers and 15 matched controls walked with high-heeled shoes (7.3cm)
while kinematic and ground reaction force data were measured and used to
calculate temporal-distance parameters, joint moments, COM-COP inclination angles
(IA) and the rate of IA changes (RCIA). Compared with inexperienced wearers,
experienced subjects showed significantly reduced frontal IA with increased ankle
pronator moments during single-limb support (p<0.05). During double-limb support
(DLS), they showed significantly increased magnitudes of the frontal RCIA at
toe-off and contralateral heel-strike, and reduced DLS time (p<0.05) but
unaltered mean RCIA over DLS. In the sagittal plane experienced wearers showed
significantly increased mean RCIA (p<0.05) and significant differences in the
RCIA at toe-off and contralateral heel-strike (p<0.05). Significantly increased
hip flexor moments and knee extensor moments at toe-off (p<0.05) were needed for
forward motion of the trailing limb. The current results identified the change in
the balance control in females after long-term use of high-heeled shoes,
providing a basis for future design of strategies to minimize the risk of falling
during high-heeled gait.
CI - Copyright (c) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS