Women's shoes and knee osteoarthritis.
We assessed whether wearing wide-heeled shoes has a similar effect on knee torque to narrow-heeled shoes by measuring the joint torques of 20 healthy women during walking. Wearing wide-heeled shoes had a 30% greater effect on peak external knee flexor torque than walking barefoot. Walking with wide-heeled and narrow-heeled shoes increased peak knee varus torque by 26% and 22%, respectively. Our findings imply that wide-heeled shoes cause abnormal forces across the patellofemoral and medial compartments of the knee, which are the typical anatomical sites for degenerative joint changes.
Kerrigan
D C
DC
Lelas
J L
JL
Karvosky
M E
ME
D000328:Adult; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012775:Shoes / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*