Walking barefoot vs. with minimalist footwear – influence on gait in younger and older adults

Abstract

Background In recent years, minimalist footwear has been increasingly promoted for its use in sportive and recreational activities. These shoes are considered to function naturally like barefoot walking while providing a protective surface. Despite a growing popularity of these shoes in the older population, little is known about the influence of minimalist footwear on gait patterns. This study investigated whether overground walking with minimalist shoes is comparable to barefoot walking regarding gait stability and variability parameters. Methods In a randomized within-subject study design, 31 healthy younger (29 ± 4 years) and 33 healthy community-dwelling older adults (71 ± 4 years) volunteered. Participants walked on flat ground, once barefoot and once with minimalist shoes. Gait variability of minimum toe clearance (MTC), stride length, stride time, and local dynamic gait stability were analysed. Results The results for both age groups showed significant condition effects (minimalist shoes vs. barefoot walking) for the outcomes of local dynamic stability (p = .013), MTC variability (p = .018), and stride length variability (p < .001) indicating increased local dynamic stability and decreased gait variability during the minimalist shoe condition. Group effects (young vs. older adults) were detected in all gait outcomes. Conclusion Walking with minimalist shoes appeared to be associated with better gait performance than walking barefoot in both age groups. Thus, walking with minimalist shoes is not similar to barefoot walking. With respect to reducing the risk of falling, we suggest that minimalist shoes could be an alternative to barefoot walking or a transition option between shoes to barefoot for older adults.

Minimal shoes improve stability and mobility in persons with a history of falls

“…We also show that wearing minimal shoes was more beneficial for walking stability in the sagittal plane (MoS AP) than walking in conventional shoes and barefoot (Table 2 , Fig. 1 ) This matches results from a recent study by Petersen et al 14 who showed that using minimal shoes was more beneficial for stability during walking than being barefoot in healthy older people, as expressed by increased local dynamic stability and decreased gait variability. Using a different metric of stability, we validate our previous study and extend it by including comparison to conventional shoes in persons with a history of falls, showing these results are robust and not just a feature of methodological approach.…”

“…Despite initial promising results 14 , studies evaluating the effects of minimal shoes in older adults are limited. To our knowledge, there are no studies comparing the effects of conventional shoes, minimal shoes and barefoot on stability and mobility in persons with a history of falls.…”

Measuring Gait Stability in People with Multiple Sclerosis Using Different Sensor Locations and Time Scales

“…As a basis to analyze the LDE, we reconstructed a state-space based on the threedimensional gyroscope (angular velocity) data which resulted in the highest effects in comparing the LDE of older vs. younger adults [13] and was, therefore, used in several studies (e.g., [26,27]). Since we used the calibrated gyroscope data outputted from the proprietary sensor fusion algorithm, we did not additionally implement any protocol to correct for time-dependent sensor errors.…”

The Design of a Shoe for the Analysis of Ambulation Pattern for Diverse Age-Cohort

“…FSR and camera technology was utilized and the results of the study showed 1.24% absolute error for spatial parameters and 1.12% absolute error for temporal parameters. In [20], a comparative analysis pertaining to walking bare foot and with minimum footwear was elaborated between young and older adults. The results of the study showed that while adhering to wearing footwear for ambulation, gait parameters tend to exhibit less variations as compared to when walking bare foot.…”

“…The total cost of the shoes designed in [19] were $90; whereas, our designed prototype costed $10. Compared to the work in [20], we recruited a more diverse age cohort for ambulation pattern analysis with the measurement of vital gait parameters that tend to indicate about any musculoskeletal system disorder or postural abnormality. Furthermore, the mentioned techniques in the literature survey require expensive hardware and software to track the ambulation pattern.…”