The assessment of influence of thermoplastic foot pads on the body stability in patients with foot dysfunctions - piloty study

Abstract

Nowadays, we can observe a tendency to reduce the efficiency of the musculoskeletal system. Currently, the majority of the population is dominated by a sedentary lifestyle. The lower limbs are deprived of systematic locomotion training and this is one of the main reasons for reduction of feet functional efficiency. A sedentary lifestyle more and more often leads to muscles and ligaments inefficiency, which often contributes to the foot dysfunctions. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of a thermoform insole on body stability improvement in patients with foot dysfunctions. The research included 20 people with one or both feet dysfunctions, qualified to apply modeled thermoform insole in order to correct the musculo-skeletal imbalance of a foot. The following foot defects appeared the most frequently among the people examined: hollow foot, abducted foot, adducted foot, longitudinal and transversal flat foot. The study was conducted in the Municipal Rehabilitation Center for Children and Youth in Torun, and started on the first day of giving an insole to a patient. An assessment of foot structure and functions, and lower ankle joint stability based on static and dynamic test on podoscope were carried out. The height and weight were measured. The BMI, characterizing height-weight ratios, was calculated. Lower limb lengths were measured in order to detect a possible asymmetry of limbs, affecting the feeling of a body stability. After the application of thermoform insoles, a worse outcome of the final assessment appears in overweight and obese people . The size of the insole has no significant effect on improving the results of the final assessment. In more than half of the patients, the standing on one leg test stage of the diagnostic part was an objective overall examination of body stability using an electronic platform Freeman Easy Tech LIBRA®.On the basis of the analysis of the studies, we have formulated the following conclusions: 1) The use of thermoform insoles individually tailored to the foot dysfunctions affects overall improvement in the stability of the body in patients in all age groups. 2) Patients aged 21 obtained a greater improvement of the parameters researched than patients aged 22-65. 3) The use of thermoform insoles had a positive impact on improving the overall surface deflections in all age groups; in patients aged 22-65 the improvement was smaller by half of the value. 4) After using insoles, the response time for both limbs improved by the value of 0.3 s for patients aged 11-21, while in the other groups it was slightly worse. 5) Assessment of reaction time needs to be completed due to too small group of subjects. 6) The use of an electronic platform Freeman Easy Tech LIBRA® makes it possible to objectify these studies. 7) The correct height-weight ratios influence positively achieving a greater improvement of the final evaluation.