EFFECT OF BACKPACKING METHOD ON PLANTAR PRESSURE AND CLINICAL RECOMMENDATIONS

Abstract

Posture changes brought by daily backpack walking can directly affect not only the force exchange between the body and the ground, but also the distribution of plantar pressure. However, the degree of influence and the exact mechanism of front side backpacks over plantar pressure remain unclear. This study was to investigate whether different backpacking ways affect foot pressures or not. Participants recruited in this study were between 18 and 60 years old and have no foot diseases and complications. In this study, changes in plantar pressure when subjects were carrying 25% of their own body weight with a front backpack or a rear backpack walking on an Emed pressure platform were measured, with the sole of the foot divided into 7mark zones (heel, midfoot, 1st, 2nd, 3rd metatarsal area, 4th, and 5th metatarsal area, big toe, the other four toes). In total, there were 13 pressure variables, such as the peak pressure measured, and comparisons were made in the three load-bearing states, i.e. front backpack, back backpack and no backpack. The results indicated that carrying backpacks in the front would reduce the pressure in the middle and lateral areas of the forefoot; surprisingly, the toe pressure of the left and right feet was asymmetrical. In the three load-bearing states, the values of all pressure variables revealed that the big toe of the left foot was under more pressure, and so were the other four toes of the right foot. It is worth noting that a short-term front backpack wearing will indeed reduce the pressure on the lateral area of the forefoot of the plantar, as far as the pressure variable of average force is concerned, the values M4 (the 2nd and 3rd metatarsal area) and M5 (the 4th and 5th metatarsal area) of the front backpack (M4left: 135.67N, M4right: 115.79N) (M5left: 45.14N, M5right: 16.60N) were significantly lower than that of the rear backpack (M4left: 155.86N, M4right: 138.35N) (M5left: 52.41N, M5right: 31.53N). However, loaded walking increases the plantar pressure, which may cause potential long-term adverse damage on the structure and function of the foot.

Date of Award	2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Dundee
Supervisor	Graham Arnold (Supervisor) & Weijie Wang (Supervisor)