Affiliations: Digital Human Research Group, Human Informatics Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tokyo, Japan
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Kanako Nakajima, Digital Human Research Group, Human Informatics Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 2-3-26, Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135 0064, Japan. Tel.: +81 80 4373 4406; Fax: +81 3 5500 5233; E-mail: k-nakajima@aist.go.jp.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Foot deformities are serious problems in the elderly as they increase the risk of falling. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the relationship between foot plantar pressure during gait and hallux valgus (HV). METHODS: Foot-pressure data were recorded using an F-scan II system. We analyzed the entire waveform of plantar pressure during gait from 37 healthy adults using principle component analysis (PCA), conducted using a 370 × 357 matrix of time-normalized plantar data of 7 areas during gait (5 gait trials × 2 (both feet) of 37 participants × 51 data points × 7 plantar areas). Two-way (plantar pressure × presence or absence of HV) analyses of variance were conducted on the principal component scores (PCSs) of principal component vectors (PCVs) 1 through 5, each of which exhibited more than 5% variance. RESULTS: The PCA clarified that the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th PCVs (PCV 2, 3, and 5) were related to HV (p< 0.01). These PCVs exhibit a significant interaction between plantar pressure area and HV presence. CONCLUSIONS: The larger plantar pressure of the HV group around the hallux area during walking compared with the non-HV group is a dominant difference in plantar pressure features due to HV.
