Context: Increased plantar cutaneous afferent information may improve postural control.
Objective: To compare postural control measures between balance conditions with and without textured insoles.
Design: crossover trial.
Setting: Research Laboratory.
Patients or other participants: 33 healthy subjects (27.4 +/- 9.1 yrs, 172.6 +/- 10.3 cm, 75.4 +/- 16.4 kg).
Intervention(s): Subjects performed 24, 10-second bipedal and unilateral stance balance trials with eyes opened and eyes closed, with and without a textured insole in subjects' shoes.
Main outcome measures: Average velocity and area of center of pressure (COP) excursions.
Results: We observed an interaction among balance conditions during bilateral stance, but not during unilateral stance. On average, subjects exhibited greater area and velocity of COP excursions with eyes closed compared to eyes opened. Significant differences in area and velocity of COP excursions were observed during bilateral stance only when subjects were not wearing textured insoles. There were no significant differences while subjects balanced in bilateral stance with textured insoles.
Conclusions: Increased afferent information from textured insoles improves postural control in bilateral stance.