Medical and Biological Sciences XXVI/2 - Collegium Medicum ...

The assessment of influence of thermoplastic foot pads on the body stability in patients with foot dysfunctions... 45
of 0.41. A significant difference was noted in the
evaluation parameter of the total surface deflections,
which has improved in all groups. Average
improvement of this parameter for both limbs was
similar in the group 5-10 years (9.03) and 11-21 years
(8.29), while the results improvement in respondents
aged 22-65 years was smaller by about half (4.73). The
response time for both legs has improved, in relation to
the result obtained before using a thermoform insole;
only in the group 11-21 years, while in the other
groups, it has deteriorated. It should be noted that the
study was conducted on the first day of receiving the
insole, which creates new proprioceptive conditions for
the foot and changes the anatomical relations due to the
foot’s correct settings. Such changes could have
affected the deterioration of the response time
parameter.
Analyzing the results of the groups formed on the
basis of determining the height-weight ratios (BMI),
the relationship of weight and improved results of the
tested parameters is visible. The final evaluation has
improved the most in patients with underweight, while
the lowest value of the improvement was achieved by
overweight and obese patients. The same trend was
observed in the evaluation of improvement of the total
surface deflections parameter for both limbs and
reaction time parameter. On the basis of the research
results, it appears that the size of the patient’s foot does
not significantly affect the results improvement of the
researched parameters. The results of the final
evaluation ranged between the lowest values of
improvement of 0.72 for the group with insole "S" and
the higher of 1.3 for the group with insole "XS". It can
be assumed that the differences between the groups
were not significant. The improvement of the total
surface deflection parameter improved significantly in
the groups with insoles size "Kids", "XS", "L",
reaching values in the range of 7.49-8.25. Only a group
of patients with insole "S" has reached the lower
average result of 4.83. The average response time in
groups with insoles size Kids, XS, S, has minimally
improved by the value of 0.06 - 0.07 s. In the group,
which used insole size L, the overall value of the
response time for both legs worsened by the value of -
2.98. Standing on one leg test showed that in 14 cases,
patients who do not have the skills to stand on one leg
(left or right) in their own shoes, after using the insole
could maintain balance within a given time. This
means that in 63% of cases insoles positively
influenced the improvement of the ability to maintain
balance in standing on one leg.
DISCUSSION
Non-physiological conditions accompanying the
growth as well as feet functional failure resulting from
a sedentary lifestyle show that currently, an increasing
proportion of the population requires a treatment of
disorders of abnormally shaped foot. The universality
of this problem causes the growing interest in Podiatry
- a science dealing with the subject of physiology,
pathology and feet therapy [14]. There is a more often
necessity to use orthopedic equipment, which is aimed
at correction of developing feet deformities and
protection of the musculo-ligamentous apparatus from
overloads, arising due to change of normal muscle
activity changes in the way of compensation appears
more often [3]. When considering the influence of
disturbances in the foot area on maintaining a stable
posture, it can be assumed that feet dysfunctions
contribute to the deterioration of the body statics,
which significantly limits the ability to maintain
balance. In addition, the stability of the body depends
on variable factors, hence the research included the
division of the patients based on age, height-weight
ratios and the foot size. Analysis of issues related to
assessment of the influence of thermoform insoles on
the body stability improvement in patients with foot
dysfunctions is a new issue, which results from the fact
that the available literature lacks in research of similar
nature. The above research used thermoform insoles,
which are different from ‘standard’ insoles available in
stores. Increasingly, insoles are treated as a serial
industrial product, which, in our opinion, is an
erroneous assumption. Insoles should be performed
according to individual needs, hence the main aim of
thermoform insoles is the ability to make them on each
foot of the patient, adjusting an insole individually to
the needs of disorders in both right and left foot. The
use of thermoform insoles individually tailored to the
disorders aims at functional improvement of feet
efficiency, the correction of feet settings in the shoe
and the reduction of pain [9]. The possibility to select
insoles on each foot of a patient individually helps the
right correction of the foot anatomical structures and
restoring normal activity of muscles stabilizing the
ankle joint, which has a significant impact on control
of body stability.