Article

Rocker outsole shoes are commonly prescribed to patients with
diabetic neuropathy to offload a particular area of the foot sole, thereby
decreasing the risk of foot ulceration. Contrary to this, some evidence has
reported a postural destabilising effect of these shoes in healthy adults.
OBJECTIVE: To explore the postural stability of patients with diabetic neuropathy
who wear a rocker outsole shoe. STUDY DESIGN: Quasi-experimental. METHOD: In
total, 17 patients with diabetic neuropathy (aged 49.29 +/- 7.48 years; 7 female,
10 males) participated in this study. A Motor Control Test measuring centre of
force displacement, response strength scale and response latency in medium and
large perturbations was conducted using the EquiTest system to evaluate postural
stability while wearing a baseline shoe (without a rocker outsole) or a rocker
outsole shoe (with a toe-only rocker sole). RESULTS: No significant difference
was observed between the shoe conditions in centre of force displacement and
response latency of the participants (p > 0.05). The results indicated a
significant increase in the response strength scale of participants by the rocker
outsole, for medium forward and backward and large forward perturbations (p =
0.014, p = 0.001 and p = 0.027, respectively). CONCLUSION: When the immediate
effect is a concern, the rocker outsole shoe did not negatively affect postural
stability in patients with diabetic neuropathy. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This article
will provide objective evidence about the effect of rocker outsole on postural
balance in diabetic patients. In prescription of rocker outsole to prevent
plantar ulceration of diabetic foot, immediate postural destabilising is not a
concern.
CI - (c) The International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics 2014.

Langue : ANGLAIS