Effect of toe contact condition during forward stepping on the ground reaction forces during turning movement.
Ryuta Saito, Shogo Okamoto, Masaaki Sakamoto
PMID 31037007WHAT IT FOUND
Healthy young women whose big and second toes did not contact clearly during a forward step pushed sideways less strongly during turning than women whose toes contacted.
The finding is about lab force measures, not fall risk or treatment response.
Key findings
01During side stepping, feet classified as medial floating-toe had a significantly smaller sideways push-off force than contact-toe feet (14.5 ± 1.7% versus 16.3 ± 2.5%).
02During side stepping, the time to reach the sideways push-off peak was significantly smaller in medial floating-toe (81.8 ± 2.6%) and lateral floating-toe (82.1 ± 3.7%) groups than in contact-toe (84.0 ± 1.9%).
03During cross stepping, medial floating-toe feet had a significantly smaller sideways push-off force value than contact-toe feet (-14.2 ± 2.3% versus -16.1 ± 2.1%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The participants were healthy young adult females with no lower-limb pathology or foot deformation, so the findings do not apply to patients, older adults, or people with mobility problems. The study measured only ground reaction forces during a lab turning task, not falls, walking ability, pain, or function. The design compared groups at one time and did not test any treatment, so it cannot show that toe contact caused the force differences. The medial floating-toe group was small, with 13 feet, and some group sizes were unequal. Toe contact was classified visually as clear or unclear, and the authors noted that a quantitative evaluation method is still needed. The authors measured only ground reaction forces, not joint motion or muscle activity, so the mechanism remains incomplete.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that toe contact causes falls or that toe exercises will improve turning. The study measured only ground reaction forces in healthy young women and found group differences, not a treatment effect or fall outcome.