Introduction: Measurement of foot pressure variables can be used to assess the loads to which the human body is subjected in normal activities, like walking, or in more demanding situations such as sports. The purpose of this study was to compare the foot pressure variables in blind and healthy individuals with open and closed eyes during walking. Methods: The present study was a quasi-experimental and laboratory study with pretest-posttest design. The statistic samples included 13 blind men with the mean age of 29.05±3.28 years and 17 healthy men with the mean age of 24.22±1.31 years participated in this study and were selected by available sampling method.. A foot scan (RS Scan International, Belgium) set was used for measuring planter pressure during walking. Variables data were recorded at a sampling frequency of 300 Hz. For data analysis, paired t-test was run to compare the means within the group; also, independent t-test run to compare the means between the groups using SPSS ver. 16 statistical software. Results: The results showed that the peak reaction time of the ground reaction force during the heel contact phase was 45.89% higher than blind people compared to the normal participants (p<0.023). The time to peak of vertical force during mid stance in the blind people was 38.97% more than in normal people with closed eyes (p<0.013). The peak vertical loading rate in the blind people was 41.65% lower than normal participants with closed eyes while walking (p<0/003). Conclusion: Congenital blind people have less stance time in comparison with the healthy people with closed eyes. Decreased walking stance time seems to be related to improved their other senses that requires further research.
Background: Genu valgum is a postural malalignment in the knee joint. This malalignment is accompanied by altered mechanical forces in the tibiofemoral and patellofemoral joints. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of using a graded knee brace in two angles of 60 and 30 degrees on the frequency spectrum of ground reaction forces in individuals with genu valgum during landing. Methods: The present study was semi-experimental. Twenty non-athlete male students with genu valgus (age range: 20-30 years) were volunteered to participate in the study. The landing task was done during three conditions including without a knee brace, with a brace at two 30 and 60 degrees of flexion from a height of equal to 30 cm. Bertec force plate was used to record ground reaction forces. Fourier transform was used to calculate ground reaction force-frequency content during both landing conditions with and without a knee brace. Results: The results of this study showed a significant reduction in the frequency content with a power of 99.5% in the mediolateral direction (P=0.02; high effect size) and vertical direction (P=0.075; high effect effect) during landing with a knee brace at 60 degrees of flexion angle compared with without knee brace condition. Also, the median frequency component in the mediolateral direction (P=0.019; low effect size) and in the anterior-posterior direction (P=0.019; high effect effect) showed a significant decrease during wearing a knee brace compared with without it. Conclusion: Regarding the decreasing of median frequency after using the knee brace, it might be effective in the reduction of injury rate in individuals with genu valgum. However, further study warranted to better establish this issue.
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