ArticleJournal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation2025
Plantar sensation associates with gait instability in older adults.
Article in Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Lower-Limb Motor Function, Mobility, Balance, Falls and Intervention Effects in Inclusion Body Myositis: A Systematic Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Comparison of plantar pressure distribution, balance and functional parameters in older adults with high and low fall risk: a cross-sectional study.Irish journal of medical science · 2026Article
- Falls in Functional Neurological Disorder: Prevalence, Risk Factors and Clinical Implications.European journal of neurology · 2026Article
- Expansion of attentional scope modulates postural control, motor strategies, and attentional network connectivity in healthy adults: a proof-of-concept mixed-methods study.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2026Article
- Acute Effects of a Single Whole-Body Vibration Session on Mobility and Postural Control in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAdvanced age brings a loss of plantar sensation, represented, for example, as higher sensation thresholds in standardized testing. This is thought to contribute to an increased risk of falls among older adults - an intuitive premise that has yet to be fully investigated, especially in the context of walking balance. The purpose of this study was to quantify the association between plantar sensation and the instability elicited by a suite of walking balance perturbations that differ in direction and context in a cohort of n = 28 older adults (73.0 ± 5.9 yrs).
methodsWe measured plantar sensation using Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments and quantified margins of stability (MoS) and whole-body angular momentum (WBAM) during habitual walking and in response to optical flow perturbations, lateral waist-pull perturbations, and treadmill-induced slips.
resultsOur two major results were that higher monofilament thresholds (i.e., worse plantar sensation) in older adults associated with: (1) larger anterior-posterior (AP) and mediolateral (ML) MoS and increased transverse plane WBAM (p ≤ 0.031) during habitual walking, and (2) larger decreases in MoS
conclusionsWe conclude that there is an association between worse plantar sensation and gait instability, both during habitual unperturbed walking and in response to some perturbation contexts. These results should build confidence that interventions designed to improve plantar sensation for older adults, possibly through insoles or footwear modifications, could be critical for reducing gait-related falls in at-risk populations.
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Registered trials
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