Free Health Dissertations - It Is Unclear How Useful The Research Findings Are To The Actual Experience
It is unclear how useful the research findings are to the actual experience of disabled and/ or aged subjects, or individuals that are outside normal weight range who appear to suffer from more walking pain and reduced range of movement (Hulens, Vansant, Claessens, Lysens and Muls, 2003). Furthermore, all the studies have included a small number of research subjects, usually based on opportunistic sampling and with a lack of randomisation of shoe conditions. Furthermore, the impact of different soft and hard footwear materials are also likely to contribute to human gait, irrespective of heel height, as demonstrated by Klinke, Graichen, Wolpert and Zichmer (1998). However, this has not generally been considered in other research studies. Finally Schollhorn, Nigg, Stefanyshyn and Liu (2002) have demonstrated that individual gait characteristics of 13 female human subjects, even in the highest heels, were marked by individual differences in walking style, as much as the heel conditions of the experiment. This underlies the need to explore data findings qualitatively as much as quantitatively.
In conclusion, when walking in high heels, stride length would appear to be reduced and gait is therefore affected (Godwin et al, 2004). A small research study is proposed in this report that, along with other studies of similar design, can be integrated into a meta-analysis in the future to establish the overall relationship between heel height and gait for healthy subjects. In replicating the study, it is hoped that the validity of the hypothesis that high heels affect gait can be tested further. If the proposed study was to obtain similar findings to the earlier study, this could form the basis of further research in more controlled conditions and using a larger number of human subjects of different mobility levels to assess the relationship between gait and footwear in more detail.
References
Bergmann G, Kniggendorf H, Graichen F and Rohlman A (1995) Influence of shoes and heel strike on the loading of the hip joint. Journal of Biomechanics 28.7, pp 817 827
Esenyel M, Walsh K, Walden J and Gitter A (2000) Kinetics of high heeled gait. Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association 93.1, pp 27 - 32
Godwin L, McKinzie T and Royo M (2004) The effect of heel height on gait: a kinematic approach. Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association 94, pp 461 469
Hansen A and Childress D (2004) Effects of shoe heel height on biologic rollover characteristics during walking. Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Development 41.4, pp 547 554
Hulens M, Vansant G, Claessens A, Lysens R and Muls E (2003) Predictors of 6 minute walk test results in lean, obese and morbidly obese women.
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