Does the shoe type matter when prescribing custom-made foot orthoses? A comparison of peak plantar pressure in healthy subjects with custom-made foot orthoses in different shoe types.

Abstract: Purpose: A common prescription in Prosthetic and orthotic clinics in Sweden is custom-made foot orthoses (CmFO). These must be placed in shoes. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the shoe type will have an impact on the effectiveness of CmFO regarding plantar pressure (PP).  Method: PP data was collected during gait from two healthy participants while wearing two pairs of different shoe types, a stable walking shoe and a flexible canvas shoe, with CmFO and original shoe insoles (OSI) respectively. The in-shoe F-scan system was used for data collection. Results: Going from canvas shoe to walking shoe showed reduced peak PP with around 40% in the forefoot and 27-50% in the heel. The walking shoe increased midfoot pressure >90% for both participants compared to the canvas shoe. The use of CmFO reduced the peak PP in the heel by 35-41% in the walking shoe and 9-44% in the canvas shoe.  Conclusion: The CmFO reduced peak PP in the heel and spread the pressure to the midfoot in both types of shoes but had bigger impact in the walking shoe. The walking shoe with OSI generated lower peak PP under the forefoot and heel than the canvas shoe with CmFO.