Background: Plantar pressure assessments are useful for understanding the functions of the foot and lower limb and for predicting injury incidence rates. Musculoskeletal fatigue is likely to affect plantar pressure profiles. This study aimed to characterize college elite basketball players' plantar pressure profiles and pain profiles during static standing and walking.
Methods: Fifty-one male elite basketball players and 85 male recreational basketball players participated in this study. An optical plantar pressure measurement system was used to collect the arch index (AI), regional plantar pressure distributions (PPDs), and footprint characteristics during static and dynamic activities. Elite basketball players' pain profiles were examined for evaluating their common musculoskeletal pain areas.
Results: The AI values were in the reference range in recreational basketball players and considerably lower in elite basketball players. Elite basketball players' static PPDs of both feet were mainly exerted on the lateral longitudinal arch and the lateral heel and were relatively lower on the medial longitudinal arch and medial and lateral metatarsal bones. The PPDs mainly transferred to the lateral metatarsal bone and lateral longitudinal arch and decreased at the medial heel during the midstance phase of walking. The footprint characteristics of elite basketball players illustrated the features of calcaneal varus (supinated foot) of high arches and dropped cuboid foot. The lateral ankle joints and anterior cruciate ligaments were the common musculoskeletal pain areas.
Conclusions: Elite basketball players' AI values indicated high arches, and their PPDs tended to parallel the features of the high-arched supinated and dropped cuboid foot. Their pain profiles resonated with the common basketball injuries and reflected the features of Jones fracture and cuboid syndrome. The potential links among high-arched supinated foot, Jones fracture, and cuboid syndrome are worth further study.