ArticleLife (Basel, Switzerland)2026
Footwear Heel Height and Gait Biomechanics in Healthy Young Women: A Within-Subject Analysis of Spatiotemporal Parameters, Propulsion, and Pelvic Kinematics.
Article in Life (Basel, Switzerland), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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12 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundHigh-heeled footwear is widely used by women, yet its systemic influence on spatiotemporal gait parameters, pelvic kinematics, and propulsion across a range of heel heights remains incompletely characterised. This study aimed to quantify gait changes across four footwear conditions and assess the contribution of anthropometric characteristics to observed gait variability.
methodsA within-subject repeated-measures study was conducted with 75 healthy young adult women (mean age 24.3 years, BMI 21.3 kg/m
resultsFootwear significantly affected 22 of 30 parameters. Walking speed was higher in all shod conditions than barefoot (up to +9.2%), driven entirely by stride elongation with cadence unchanged, indicating a general effect of footwear rather than heel elevation specifically. Stride length peaked at 8 cm heel (+8.9% vs. barefoot) and declined at 12 cm. Gait symmetry decreased progressively with heel height. Ballerina shoes produced a distinctively dynamic temporal profile-shortest stance duration, lowest double support, and highest single support time-significantly different from both barefoot and heeled conditions. The propulsion index increased height-dependently with heel height, rising 23.3% from barefoot (8.20) to 12 cm heel (10.11;
conclusionsHeel height exerts condition-specific effects on gait biomechanics. Ballerina shoes produce a gait pattern distinct from both barefoot and heeled walking. Propulsion demand increases height dependently with heel elevation. Because participants walked in their own footwear, the observed effects reflect the combined characteristics of each shoe type rather than heel elevation in isolation. Anthropometric characteristics-particularly age, body weight, and shoe size-are modestly associated with footwear-gait responses and may inform future biomechanical research, although clinical application requires confirmation in standardised-footwear studies and clinical populations.
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