Changes in the lower limb alignment during the gait in advanced phases of pregnancy and the effect of special footwear

Abstract

Cambios en la alineación de las extremidades inferiores durante la marcha en fases avanzadas del embarazo y el efecto de calzado especial Changes in the lower limb alignment during the gait in advanced phases of pregnancy and the efect of special footwear Abstract: he hip, knee and foot pain are common complaints during pregnancy as pregnancy afects the musculoskeletal health. he purpose of the study was to investigate the pregnancy gait adaptations and the efect of special footwear. 16 pregnant women divided into a control and experimental group, who obtained the special footwear, participating at 27, 32 and 37 gestational weeks in data collection sessions. At each session participants were asked to go barefoot in a space captured by the Simi Motion®. To compare the diferences between diferent collection sessions, efect size obtained by Cohen's d was used. Results of this study showed, that using the tested footwear enabled a verticalization of the pelvic segment, increase of the maximum hip extension angle, reduction of foot-loor angle and maintaining the same height of the knee during walking in the experimental group, possibly decreasing the risk of pain development in these body segments during pregnancy.