Effects of a modified shoe on knee load in people with and those without knee osteoarthritis

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the effects of a modified shoe that incorporates both lateral wedging and a variable-stiffness sole on knee joint loading in 3 populations: individuals with symptomatic and radiographic knee osteoarthritis (OA), asymptomatic overweight individuals, and asymptomatic healthy weight individuals. Methods Ninety participants (30 per group) underwent a 3-dimensional gait analysis across 3 test conditions: modified shoes, standard control shoes, and barefoot. For each condition, the first peak knee adduction moment (KAM) and knee flexion moment (KFM) (both expressed as Nm/[body weight × height]%) as well as the KAM impulse (expressed as Nm.s/[body weight × height]%) were deter..