Article

Chronic ankle instability (CAI) patients have been shown to have increased
lateral column plantar pressure throughout the stance phase of gait. To date,
traditional CAI rehabilitation programs have been unable to alter gait. We
developed an auditory biofeedback device that can be worn in shoes that elicits
an audible cue when an excessive amount of pressure is applied to a sensor. This
study determined whether using this device can decrease lateral plantar pressure
in participants with CAI and alter surface electromyography (sEMG) amplitudes
(anterior tibialis, peroneus longus, medial gastrocnemius, and gluteus medius).
Ten CAI patients completed baseline treadmill walking while in-shoe plantar
pressures and sEMG were measured (baseline condition). Next, the device was
placed into the shoe and set to a threshold that would elicit an audible cue
during each step of the participant's normal gait. Then, participants were
instructed to walk in a manner that would not trigger the audible cue, while
plantar pressure and sEMG measures were recorded (auditory feedback (AUD FB)
condition). Compared to baseline, there was a statistically significant reduction
in peak pressure in the lateral midfoot-forefoot and central forefoot during the
AUD FB condition. In addition, there were increases in peroneus longus and medial
gastrocnemius sEMG amplitudes 200ms post-initial contact during the AUD FB
condition. The use of this auditory biofeedback device resulted in decreased
plantar pressure in the lateral column of the foot during treadmill walking in
CAI patients and may have been caused by the increase in sEMG activation of the
peroneus longus.
CI - Copyright (c) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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