Effect of foot progression angle alteration on medial-lateral center of pressure position during single-leg standing.
Toshihiro Haba, Hiroyasu Iwatsuki
PMID 36866021WHAT IT FOUND
In healthy men, turning the foot out shifted pressure laterally and backward, while turning it in shifted it medially.
This confirms toe-out moves the load line outward, but the shift happens relative to the body, not by moving the foot's own contact point.
Key findings
01Toe-out conditions shifted the center of pressure laterally and posteriorly compared to toe-in, while toe-in shifted it medially.
02The position of the center of pressure within the foot itself did not change with foot rotation, meaning the shift is relative to the body's axis.
03There were no significant differences in external ankle eversion moment or arch height between the toe-in, neutral, and toe-out conditions.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study used a static single-leg stand, not walking. The authors note that during actual gait, the foot does not have full contact with the ground, so these findings may not apply to dynamic movement. The participants were all young, healthy males with no knee osteoarthritis, so the results may not generalize to the target population for this intervention. The sample size was small (n=15).
Declared interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests or personal relationships.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that instructing a patient to walk with a toe-out angle will automatically reduce medial knee load in a clinically meaningful way. This study only showed that the center of pressure shifts laterally in a static stance in healthy men; it did not measure knee moments or test patients with osteoarthritis.