Centre for Policy on Ageing



Effects of shoe collar height and sole hardness on balance in older women
Author(s)	Stephen R Lord, Guy M Bashford, Amelia Howland
Journal title	Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, vol 47, no 6, June 1999
Pages	pp 681-684
Keywords	Mobility ; Footwear ; Older women ; Australia.
Annotation	Hard soles and high collar heights are shoe characteristics that have been proposed as safe shoe features. The authors build on previous work by examining whether these features affect stability as measured by tests of static and dynamic balance in 42 Australian women aged 60 to 92. The subjects underwent assessments of static balance (body sway) and dynamic balance (maximal balance range and co-ordinated stability) under five conditions: in soft-soled bowls shoes; in hard-soled bowls shoes; in college-style shoes; in college-style shoes with a high (boot) collar; and barefoot. The findings indicate that subjects had better balance when wearing shoes with high collars than when wearing shoes in with low collars. However, sole hardness was not related to balance. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-990825312 A
Classmark	C4: YW8: BD: 7YA
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.