Increased shoe heel height generates greater peak knee extension moments than fast walking speeds

Abstract

Wearing high heeled footwear during gait increases risks of trips and falls, and suffering from lower-limb injuries. High heel footwear increases knee extension moment and hence knee joint load. Consequently, prolonged wearing of high heel footwear may increase risks of knee osteoarthritis. Although, many studies have investigated the effect of heel height on knee joint moments, most studies do not account for the confounding effect of walking speed. Three-dimensional gait analysis and inverse dynamics were used to investigate the effect of heel height and walking speed on the peak knee joint moment during stance. This found heel height affects the peak knee extension moment more significantly than walking speed. More importantly, this study shows that wearers of higher heel heights are likely to be exposed to greater knee compression forces than when walking faster.