The effects of minimal shoes in combination with textured and supportive insoles on spatiotemporal walking gait parameters in healthy young adults

Abstract

Spatiotemporal parameters, such as speed, cadence, stride length are often adjusted to enhance stability during walking. Minimal shoes and insoles are known to impact dynamic stability, however their combined effect on such gait parameters in healthy young adults remains unexplored. This cross-sectional study assessed the effects of a minimal shoes, the combination of a minimal shoes with a textured insoles, a minimal shoes with a supportive insoles, barefoot walking and habitual shoes on stability-related spatiotemporal walking gait parameters. Sixty-two healthy young adults (41 males and 21 females, age: 24.6 ± 5.5 years, height: 1.73 ± 0.01 m, weight: 73.8 ± 14.2 kg) were assessed using a 2-minute walk test (2-MWT), and a Timed up and Go (TUG) test in a randomized order of five different footwear conditions. Measurements were made using Kinesis Gait ^TM and QTUG ^TM sensors. Repeated measures analyses of covariance were conducted to examine the effect of footwear with gender and BMI as covariates. Results revealed improvement in observed gait parameters during the 2-MWT in minimal shoes, minimal shoes with a textured insoles and minimal shoes with a supportive insoles compared to barefoot and habitual footwear. Participants covered a significantly greater distance (p < 0.05) during the 2-MWT at a self-selected speed in all three minimal shoes conditions with larger stride length and improved cadence. Significant variations (p < 0.05) were found between barefoot walking and minimal shoes conditions while participants being least stable during the barefoot walking. The use of textured or supportive insoles within the minimal shoes did not provide any additional benefits nor did it have any detrimental effect on the spatiotemporal parameters. Nevertheless, minimal shoes with or without insoles have the potential to enhance stability during walking as speed, cadence, and stride length are improved.

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