ISSN: 2640-2734
Authors: Goehring M*, Kristin Cekander, James Clark and Laura Subject
Background and Purpose: Non-slip socks are frequently used in health care settings in an attempt to reduce falls. Increased velocity of postural sway has been shown to relate to increased risk of falling. The influence of footwear on velocity of postural sway has yet to be determined. The purpose of this study was to compare the velocity of postural sway of community-dwelling older adults during a simulated fall while barefoot, wearing athletic type shoes, or wearing non-slip socks. Methods: Postural sway was measured during a simulated fall on 27 ambulatory adults with an average age of 58.07 years using computerized posturography. Subjects underwent three simulated falls in each footwear condition (barefoot, shoes, non-slip socks). Thirteen of the 27 subjects completed a post-study survey to subjectively rank the stability of each footwear condition. Hierarchical linear modeling statistics determined the difference in velocity of sway wearing different types of randomly applied footwear with P≤.05. Results and Discussion: In static standing, the mean velocity of postural sway for barefoot and non-slip socks was 0.26 m/s, athletic shoes was 0.31 m/s; barefoot and non-slip socks demonstrated lower velocity of sway at p-value of P<0.05 when compared to athletic shoes. In dynamic standing during the simulated fall, the mean velocity of postural sway for barefoot was 2.57m/s, athletic shoes was 2.66m/s and non-slip socks was 2.38m/s. Non-slip socks demonstrated lowest velocity of sway at p-value of P<0.001 when compared to athletic shoes. Post-study survey analysis revealed a p-value of 1.000. The p-value of 1.000 for the post study surveys concludes that the subjective rank of the most stable footwear condition did not match objective data. This indicates subjects were unable to subjectively determine which footwear most reduced postural sway. Conclusions: Non-slip socks may be effective at reducing the velocity of postural sway in community-dwelling older adults and may be effective at reducing fall risk
Keywords: Fall prevention; Footwear; Postural Sway
