The effect of the use of a walkway and the choice of the foot on plantar pressure assessment when using pressure platforms

Background: Plantar pressure assessment is routinely used in a clinical setting for diagnosing foot problems and prescribing orthoses or footwear. Despite this, the measurement procedures and protocols that might have an effect on the results are not standardised. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate, if variations in the data collection protocol such as the use of a walkway and stepping preference influence the measured plantar pressure parameters. Method: 21 participants who were recruited from a convenience sample and consented to participate were tested under a number of different conditions through which the effect of these variations was tested. A paired T-test was used to determine whether a significant difference in the data corresponding to each subject for different testing conditions existed. Results: Although there were significant differences between the plantar pressure measurement with the choice of the foot, there were no significant difference in the majority of plantar pressure parameters whilst using or not using the walkway. Conclusion: The results suggest that in a clinical and research setting extrinsic factors such as stepping preference needs to be considered to eliminate the effect of variability in plantar pressure data.