Análise da repetibilidade na pressão plantar durante a marcha de crianças, adultos e idosos

Abstract

Plantar pressure measured during the gait allows investigating various aspects of the dynamics of locomotion, including the risk of injury due to stresses in the soft tissues of the foot. The repeatability of plantar pressure therefore characterizes an important component of clinical evaluation of gait. The purpose of this research is to determine the repeatability of plantar pressure variables in the children, adult and elderly. The study included 37 volunteers (12 children, 13 adults and 12 elderly) assessed during walking barefoot and at preferred speed along a 9 meters long passwalk. The assessment of plantar pressure was accomplished in four non-consecutive days using a pressure mat. The plantar pressure data were compared between days and within days considering different steps and the different regions of the foot. Our results show that there is a good repeatability in the plantar pressure distribution in the same day, suggesting that less than 10 steps may be sufficient to obtain average data. Furthermore, foot regions receive load in a consistent way. Considering data from different days, children and adults have data that allow us to suggest that a single assessment would be sufficient to describe the plantar pressure profile, but peak pressure in the elderly showed to be variable in the different days. In conclusion, our study shows that few steps seem to represent plantar pressure measurements in the gait of children and adults, but elderly require special consideration in determining the peak pressure, due to the variability observed. Implications of the consistent pattern of pressure application and distribution on cumulative loads in the foot is a topic deserving attention in studies concerning pain and injuries in the foot.