Influence of plantar insensitive for human gait in regular and irregular terrain

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate an influence of the plantar tactile sensibility during walking on regular and irregular terrain. Subjects were 8 healthy men (21.9 ±0.8 years old). In addition, we adopted an ice immersion to make plantar insensitive, and compared with normal (not iced) condition. In these experiments, the subjects soaked their soles to the ice water 30 minutes in the ice immersion. The measurements carried out 8 trials (one walking from the end to the end of walking road is defined one trial) on normal condition, and 8 trials after the ice immersion. The limitation such as the walking style and the walking speed was not especially instructed, and for all trials, the subjects were instructed to walk at their own pace, as if they were "walking to mail a letter." We conducted the experiments on even terrain and uneven terrain (32 trials in total per one subject). As a result, the results of the gait velocity (P<0.07), step length (P<0.96), and step width (P<0.5) on even terrain were not significant change after the ice immersion. By contrast, on uneven terrain, the gait velocity (P<0.01) and the step length (P<0.01) significantly decreased after the ice immersion. These results supported that the plantar insensitive significantly influence human gait on uneven terrain. © 2010 International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering.