EFFECTS OF HEEL HEIGHTS AND SHOE INSERTS ON STEP COUNTS AND PERCEIVED COMFORT AMONG FEMALE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS.

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Background: Studying the effects of heeled shoes and shoe inserts on step counts and perceived comfort may advance shoe design and minimize adverse effects on human musculoskeletal system such as discomfort, sprained ankles, and lower back pain. Therefore this study was conducted to determine the association between heel height and use of shoe inserts with step counts as well as perceived comfort among female undergraduate students of a public university.

Methodology: Through random sampling method, a total of 64 respondents participated with 32 healthy female undergraduates represent the heeled-shoes wearing experienced group and another 32 respondents formed the non-experienced group. The heel heights used were 2.0 cm (flat), 4.0 cm (low), and 6.0 cm (high). The shoe-insert conditions used were shoe only, heel cup, arch support, and total contact insert (TCI). Respondents walked on treadmill for each experimental condition. Sociodemographic data, perceived discomfort rating and steps count were collected using questionnaire, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scale and an OMRON pedometer respectively. Reliability of instrumentation was measured and Chronbach’s alpha values for VAS scale were in average of 0.818.

Results: With overall response rate of 87.5%, the perceived discomfort increases as heel height increases with significant difference among experienced group wearing low and high-heeled shoes (p = 0.0178). As for step count based on heel heights and shoe inserts, there was no significant different in the step counts between the two groups (P>0.05).  However it was noted that the experienced group had higher step count compared to non-experienced group and different shoe inserts were able to decrease the number of steps per minute of both groups.

Conclusion: Experienced group of female undergraduates with previous wearing experience, flat heeled-shoes, and total contact insert offered lowest number of step counts, and lowest perceived discomfort rating when compared to other heel heights and insert condition.

Keywords: Heel heights, Shoe inserts, Step count, Perceived comfort