Background:Walking is one the common daily activities. With the beginning of middle age, weakness in the lower limb muscles can reduce the ability to walk. The use of foot orthoses reduce the load on the limbs and supports the joints during walking. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the acute effect of foot orthoses on the frequency spectrum of ground reaction forces during walking in the older adults. Methods: In this semi-experimental and laboratory study, 21 elderly (15 females and 6 males) with a mean height of 164.19±4.26 centimeters and weight of 80.04±3.50 kg, and age of 66.00±3.50 years were volunteered to participate in the study. The walking trials were done during three conditions including walking without foot orthoses, walking with small and large textured orthoses. The Bertec force plate (made in USA) with dimensions of 40 * 60 cm was used to record ground reaction forces. Results: The results of this study did not show any significant differences between walking without foot orthoses, walking with small and large textured foot orthoses for frequency of 99.5%, median frequency, frequency band and number of essential harmonics (P>0.05). However, the comfort level during wearing of large texture insole condition significantly increased compared to other conditions (P<0.05). Conclusion: The textured foot orthoses do not affect the frequency spectrum of ground reaction forces; however, it improves the comfort of the individual while walking.

Background: Different factors affect walking biomechanics disturb the postural control. Genu valgus is one of the most important lower limb malalignments that affects the postural control and disrupts the posture. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the acute effect of knee brace on the electromyography activity of lower limb muscles in individuals with genu valgus during walking. Methods: In this semi-experimental and a laboratory typ study,. 24 boys with genu valgum (20-30 years old) volunteered to participate in the study. The electrical activity of the selected muscles was recorded by an electromyography system during walking with and without knee brace. Paired t-test was used for statistical analysis at a significance level of 0.05. Results: There was a significant increase in electrical activity of the semitendinosus muscle during walking with knee brace compared to walking without it (p = 0.037, d = 0.89). The electrical activity of other lower limb muscles did not show any significant differences during acute use of knee brace (P >0.05). Conclusion: The semitendinosus muscle in individuals with genu valgus is weak. Therefore, significant increase in the electrical activity of the semitendinosus muscle during wearing of knee brace means delaying the fatigue and indicating improvement in the muscular function.

Older adults demonstrate increased amounts of postural sway, which may ultimately lead to falls. The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate the effect of different foot orthoses on lower limb biomechanical variables, lower limb muscular activity, and balance in elderly people. Examining texts based on the search on the Magiran, Google Schoolar, Pubmed, Scopus, and SIVILICA sites were done by using following keywords: foot orthoses, footwear, aging, aged, elderly, Kinematic, walking, loading rate, Kinetic Walking, in combination in four part from 2005 to 2018. In the initial searches, 72 papers were obtained, eight articles based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected. This systematic review demonstrated that the use of textures and modeling orthoses strengthens sensory receptors and improves postures, as well as improves the biomechanical parameters such as evertor and invertor moments and ground reaction forces in some cases.

Purpose: The current study aimed to evaluate the effects of barefoot and shod running with two different styles on ground reaction force-frequency content in recreational runners with low arched feet. Methods: The statistical sample of this research was 13 males with Pronated Feet (PF) (Mean±SD age: 26.2±2.8 y; height: 176.1±8.4 cm; weight: 78.3±14.3 kg). A force plate (Bertec, USA) with a sample rate of 1000 Hz was used to record the reaction forces under each foot. Three test conditions in our study included shod running with rearfoot, midfoot, and forefoot patterns. Repeated-measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used for analyzing the data. Results: During forefoot running, the research subjects attained 10% higher GRF values in vertical direction, compared with rearfoot running (P˂0.001, d=2.133). Forefoot running decreased the peak vertical GRF, compared to rearfoot running (by 12%, P=0.01, d=0.826). Barefoot running decreased the peak vertical GRF, compared to shod running (by 6%, P=0.027, d=1.143). The collected results revealed a significantly lower FyMed (P<0.02, d=1.11, 14%), Fy99.5% (P<0.02, d=0.11, 8%), and greater FyNe (P<0.02, d=0.72, 10%), Fz99.5% (P<0.01, d=4.30, 124%), and FzNe (P<0.01, d=1.65, 44%) when running with rearfoot strike pattern, compared with forefoot strike pattern. Conclusion: The study subjects with pronated feet experienced greater GRF values during forefoot running than rearfoot; such data may imply an increased risk of running injuries. Therefore, forefoot running is not recommended for runners with pronated feet.

Introduction: As a person gets older, their gait patterns change and their ability to walk decreases. Orthoses are used to relieve musculoskeletal disorders, skeletal problems, disabilities, etc. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of orthoses on timing of lower limb muscles in the older adults during gait. Methods: The present study was a clinical trial. 14 females (with average age of 60.50±4.40 years) and 14 males (with average age of 63.35±5.55 years) were selected with available sampling, voluntarily participated in this research. Eight electrodes were placed on the selected muscles (tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius medial, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, biceps femoris, semitendinosus, gluteus medius, erector spinae) to record electrical activity during the gait with and without orthoses. To analyze the data SPSS software (version 16), and a repeated analysis of variance test was used. The significance levels in all tests were considered to be 0.05. Results: The main effects of orthoses and the interaction effects of orthoses and sex for the onset of selected muscles activities did not show any significant differences (P>0.05). The effect of sex for the onset of activities in medial gastrocnemius (P=0.007), vastus medialis (P=0.002), vastus lateralis (P=0.027), semitendinosus (P=0.004), gluteus medius (P=0.030), and erector spinae (P=0.039) muscles was significant, so that the onset of muscle activity in the female group was earlier than in the male group. Conclusion: Orthoses showed no improvement on onset of selected muscles activities, although significant differences were observed between the male and female groups.