Characteristics of foot plantar pressure during turning in young male adults

Background: Turning gait is considered as a challenging motor task. However, only few existing studies reported turning biomechanics from the aspect of foot plantar pressure. Research question: This study aimed to investigate turning biomechanics by studying foot plantar pressure characteristics Methods: Twelve young male participants were involved in this experimental study. They were instructed to perform turning tasks with different turning angles (i.e., 30, 60, and 90). Foot plantar pressure was quantified by the force time integral (FTI) underneath seven plantar sub-areas. Analysis was carried out for different turning strategies (spin turns versus step turns), separately. Results: The results showed that for small-angle spin turns, plantar pressure patterns changed at the early stage of the approaching step, suggesting a preparatory action for the increased lower limb range of motion in the transverse plane during turning; for step turns, an imbalance weight bearing mechanism was adopted when making large-angle turns to compensate for the centripetal force during turning. Significance: The findings provide improved knowledge about turning biomechanics. They have practical implications for motion planning of lower-limb assistive devices for those with difficulties in turning.