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Age and Ageing Advance Access originally published online on November 11, 2008
Age and Ageing 2009 38(1):62-67; doi:10.1093/ageing/afn219
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

The effects of usual footwear on balance amongst elderly women attending a day hospital

N. Frances Horgan1, Fiona Crehan1, Emma Bartlett2, Fiona Keogan2, Anne Marie O’Grady2, Allan R. Moore3, Ciaran F. Donegan3 and Martina Curran2

1 School of Physiotherapy, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin 2, Ireland
2 Physiotherapy Department, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin 9, Ireland
3 Department of Medicine for the Elderly, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin 9, Ireland

Address correspondence to: Dr N. F. Horgan. Tel: (+353) 1 402 2472; Fax: (+353) 1 402 2471. Email: fhorgan{at}rcsi.ie

Objective: to examine the effects of footwear on balance in a sample of older women attending a day hospital.

Design: this was a crossover trial with a quasi-randomised allocation.

Setting: assessments took place in the geriatric day hospital.

Subjects: a cohort of 100 older women aged 60 years and over attending a day hospital.

Methods: demographic data and a brief falls history were recorded. Participant's footwear was assessed using a footwear assessment form. A Berg Balance Scale (BBS) was completed under two conditions–-shoes on and shoes off with order counter-balanced.

Results: the mean BBS was 39.07 (SD 9.14) with shoes on and 36.54 (SD 10.39) with shoes off (P < 0.0001). Balance scores were significantly higher with shoes on for 10 of the 14 Berg subcategories. Lower barefoot BBS scores were associated with a greater beneficial effect of footwear on balance (P < 0.001). Shoe characteristics were not associated with change in the BBS score.

Conclusions: Wearing their own footwear significantly improved participants’ balance compared to being barefoot. The greatest benefit of footwear was seen in those with the poorest balance. Further studies should investigate whether particular types of footwear are associated with greater benefit.

Keywords: elderly, shoes, balance, day hospital

Received 26 October 2007; accepted in revised form 12 June 2008.


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