Gender differences of foot characteristics in older Japanese adults using a 3D foot scanner

Abstract

BackgroundKnowledge of gender differences in foot shape assists shoe manufactures with designing appropriate shoes for men and women. Although gender differences in foot shapes are relatively known among young men and women, less is known about how the older men and women’s feet differ in shape. A recent development in foot shape assessment is the use of 3D foot scanners. To our knowledge this technology has yet to be used to examine gender differences in foot shape of Japanese older adults.MethodsThis cross-sectional study included 151 older men (74.5 ± 5.6 years) and 140 older women (73.9 ± 5.1 years) recruited in Kasama City, Japan. Foot variables were measured in sitting and standing positions using Dream GP Incorporated’s 3D foot scanner, Footstep PRO (Osaka, Japan). Scores were analyzed as both raw and normalized to truncated foot length using independent samples t-test and analysis of covariance, respectively.ResultsIn men, the measurement values for navicular height, first and fifth toe and instep heights, ball and heel width, ball girth, arch height index (just standing), arch rigidity index and instep girth were significantly greater than the women’s, whereas the first toe angle, in both sitting and standing positions was significantly smaller. However, after normalizing, the differences in ball width, heel width, height of first and fifth toes in both sitting and standing and ball girth in sitting position were nonsignificant. According to Cohen’s d, among all the foot variables, the following had large effect sizes in both sitting and standing positions: truncated foot length, instep, navicular height, foot length, ball girth, ball width, heel width and instep girth.ConclusionThis study provides evidence of anthropometric foot variations between older men and women. These differences need to be considered when manufacturing shoes for older adults.

Association of bilateral flat feet with knee pain and disability in patients with knee osteoarthritis: A cross‐sectional study

“…People with knee OA are known to possess a more pronate foot type, using foot posture index, arch index, and rear foot angles . Indeed, navicular height/foot length in this study is much lower than in healthy elderly, and we found higher prevalence rates of flat feet (49.5%) in one or both limbs in patients with knee OA. It is unknown whether the condition of flat feet causes knee pain.…”

Plantar pressure sensors indicate women to have a significantly higher peak pressure on the hallux, toes, forefoot, and medial of the foot compared to men

“…We have not recorded the foot morphology of the participant in this study. Mahshid et al reported that Japanese women had narrower feet in the heel and forefoot, and their instep, rst and fth toes and navicular height were also lower than men's [27]. Zhao et al demonstrated that Japanese men generally had longer, larger and higher arched feet than women [28].…”

A data-driven classification of 3D foot types by archetypal shapes based on landmarks

“…We have applied ADA separately for men and women, since previous studies have shown gender foot shape differences [5,7]. Furthermore, footwear designers usually propose different designs for women and men.…”

“…It is not only important from the shoe manufacturing point of view, since an improper fit prevents shoe purchase, but also because poorly fitting footwear can cause foot pain and deformity [1], especially in women. Therefore, numerous studies have been carried out on foot shapes [2][3][4][5][6][7].…”

“…When objective techniques have been contemplated, these have been very simple [30]. In fact, despite performing 3D scans, that information is then summarized into a series of multivariate measures [5,7,31]. These measures are then treated in an ad hoc, heuristic way to couple pre-established types [12], or a cluster analysis is applied to these measures directly or after applying factor analysis or principal component analysis (PCA) to reduce the dimension [2,14,24,[32][33][34][35].…”