Influence of pregnancy related anthropometric changes on plantar pressure distribution during gait-A follow-up study

PLoS One. 2022 Mar 11;17(3):e0264939. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264939. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

Background: As foot constitutes the base of support for the whole body, the pregnancy-related anthropometric changes can result in adaptive plantar pressure alterations. The present study aimed to investigate how pregnancy affects foot loading pattern in gait, and if it is related to body adjustments to growing foetus that occur in the course of pregnancy.

Methods: A prospective longitudinal study included 30 women. Three experimental sessions in accordance with the same procedure were carried out in the first, second and third trimesters of pregnancy. First, the anthropometric measures of the body mass and waist circumference were taken. Then walking trials at a self-selected speed along a ~6-m walkway were registered with the FreeMED force platform (Sensor Medica, Italy). Vertical foot pressure was recorded by the force plate located in the middle of the walkway.

Findings: The correlation of individual foot loading parameters across different trimesters was relatively high. Nevertheless, our results revealed a longitudinal foot arch flattening with the strongest effect in late pregnancy (P = 0.01). The anthropometric characteristics also influenced the foot loading pattern depending on the phase of pregnancy. In particular, arch flattening correlated with the body mass in all trimesters (r≥0.44, P≤0.006) while the medial-lateral loading index correlated only in the first (r = 0.45, P = 0.005) and second (r = 0.36, P = 0.03) trimesters. Waist circumference changes significantly influenced dynamic arch flattening but only in the late pregnancy (r≥0.46, P≤0.004). In the third trimester, a small though significant increase in the right foot angle was observed (P = 0.01).

Interpretation: The findings provided the characteristics of the relative foot areas loading throughout pregnancy. Growing abdominal size increases the risk of medial arch flattening, which can result in less stable gait. The observed increase in foot angle in late pregnancy may constitute a strategy to enhance gait stability.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biomechanical Phenomena
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Gait*
  • Humans
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Pregnancy
  • Prospective Studies
  • Walking*

Grants and funding

This publication is supported under the programme established by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, named “Regional Initiative of Excellence”, spanning the period 2019-2022(Project No 022/RID/2018/19, amount of financing: PLN 11 919 908 PLN). The research was funded by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (Research project No 99/BS/INB/2016 realized within statutory activities) and the Italian Ministry of Health (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia Ricerca corrente). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.