Objective: A randomized controlled trial was undertaken to determine the impact of a 12-month exercise program on the temporal characteristics of the foot rollover during walking, based on plantar pressure data.
Methods: One hundred twenty one postmenopausal women aged 41 to 77 years comprised the sample and were randomly recruited from the community. Exercise and control women were tested before and at the end of the trial. The temporal characteristics were assessed with the women walking barefoot at a self-selected speed over a 9-meter-long walking track having a built-in pressure platform. The initial and final contacts at the lateral and medial heel, metatarsal heads I to V, and the hallux (medial and lateral) were measured.
Results: Women from the exercise group presented a latter time of making contact in the relative metatarsal 4, metatarsal 5 (absolute and relative), and medial heel (absolute and relative) and earlier relative initial contact in toe 1. In the modification rates, postmenopausal women from the exercise group presented (1) latter final contact (absolute and relative) in metatarsal 5, (2) latter relative final contact in metatarsal 4, and (3) earlier relative initial contact in toe 1. Postmenopausal women from the control group presented an earlier initial contact in metatarsal 3 (absolute and relative). Repeated-measures analysis of variance demonstrated a time effect in most variables considered.
Conclusions: The exercise program is effective in improving the gait pattern in postmenopausal women who adhere, and time has the main effect.