Pressure Perception on The Foot of Young Healthy Adults:Measuring Reliability and Foot Sensitivity
Even though pressure on feet is generally unavoidable and undue pressure on some regions have been widely accepted as the major source of foot discomfort, pain and problems, there is little understanding of related human perceptions. The purpose of this study is two-folded: (1) to evaluate the reliability of a developed indentation apparatus for measuring pressure thresholds of discomfort and pain; (2) to determine the pressure sensitivity map on foot. Method: The pressure discomfort threshold (PDT) and pressure pain threshold (PPT) of 13 representative test locations distributed on the right feet of 20 healthy subjects (10 males and 10 females) were measured twice through a developed indentation apparatus. Results: Measurement reliability tests (intra-class correlation, ICC) on both PDT and PPT demonstrate that the participants are not only capable of judging the pain threshold, but also reliably differentiate discomfort from pain. PDT is highly correlated to PPT and PDT accounts for slightly less than half of the PPT. Pressure sensitivity of the foot varies across the test locations of the foot and a typical sensitivity pattern has been found: except for the medial plantar arch and foot center, which have less contact with the ground and bears less load, all tested locations on the foot sole have higher PDT and PPT than those on the foot dorsum. Conclusions: The developed indentation apparatus can be used for measuring pressure thresholds with reasonable levels of reliability. The pressure sensitivity map on foot and quantitative data of PDT, PPT can help footwear designers distinguish sensitive foot locations under pressure and then design tissue-compliant footwear products for improved footwear comfort.
Shuping XIONG Ravindra S. GOONETILLEKE
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Human Performance Laboratory, Department of Industrial Engineering and Logistics Management, Hong Ko
国际会议
17th World Congress on Ergonomics(第十七届国际人类工效学大会)
北京
英文
1-5
2009-08-09（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）