Daily-life activities and in-shoe forefoot plantar pressure in patients with diabetes.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To assess differences regarding in-shoe forefoot plantar pressure (PP) in patients with diabetes during various daily-life activities. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In-shoe PP was measured in 93 patients during level walking, ramp and stair walking, turning in different settings and while performing the Up & Go test. Separate PPs were determined for the big toe and metatarsal (mt) regions one to five. RESULTS: Across all activities, similar PPs were measured in the big toe and mt-1 to mt-3 region. Lower PPs were measured in mt-4 and mt-5 region. PPs during level walking were mostly higher when compared to the other activities (pwalking resulted in higher PPs than turning while performing the other activities (pramp and stair ascending when compared to descending (pbig toe region, stair descending resulted in higher PPs than ascending (ppatients with neuropathy had lower PPs (overall mean 28kPa) than patients without neuropathy. CONCLUSIONS: Level walking resulted in the highest forefoot PPs during daily-life activities. Patients with neuropathy had lower PPs than patients without neuropathy.