Original article: Optimizing footwear for older people at risk of falls

[Sid]

This research suggests the possibility that old people may have less falls while wearing shoes, because they're habituated to wearing shoes. Unfortunately, it doesn't compare the habitually unshod vs. shod.

http://www.rehab.research.va.gov/jour/08/45/8/pdf/menant.pdf

EDIT: As pointed out below by Ahcuah, this is a review article and has limitations, and the authors even state as such in the article.

Please see Ahcuah's comments in the posts below.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I have a study's link that shows that because our old folks wear shoes they are more prone to falling because they don't have any or they have very little proprioception. I will look for it.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I am not finding it with a simple search for elderly or old, as I thought it would be listed that way. I will have to look more closely at my lists.

 

[Ahcuah]

The article is a review article (meaning, they did no original research, but just reviewed the other research). If you look at some of the other studies that show more falls for older adults, because falls are fairly rare, they grouped together those
barefoot with those wearing socks. Duh.

They also did things like, after a fall occurred, ask the subjects what their footwear condition was. For many of the barefoot falls, they were in the bathroom (with wet floors and the like). This introduces a rather strong bias into the results.

 

[Sid]

The article is a review article (meaning, they did no original research, but just reviewed the other research). If you look at some of the other studies that show more falls for older adults, because falls are fairly rare, they grouped together those
barefoot with those wearing socks. Duh.

Ahcuah, would you please post links to the other studies that you've read? It's important for people to understand how bias can be introduced into research and review articles. Thank you for pointing this out. (I've also added a caveat to the first post.)

 

[Ahcuah]

Ahcuah, would you please post links to the other studies that you've read? It's important for people to understand how bias can be introduced into research and review articles. Thank you for pointing this out. (I've also added a caveat to the first post.)

Well, a lot of the studies I've read are not free access, and I'd generally prefer not to violate the terms under which I got them. However, that said, I do have quite a few papers on my own website. http://refs.ahcuah.com/papers/

In particular, you might look at "Footwear Style and Risk of Falls in Older Adults", by Thomas D. Koepsell, et al. The Journal of the American Geriatric Society (September, 2004), http://refs.ahcuah.com/papers/j_am_ger_soc.pdf and a critique of it by SBL member Alan Crowe.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I so wish I could find the study I am talking about.

 

[Ahcuah]

Is is maybe "Proprioception and stability: foot position awareness as a function of age and footware" by Robbins? http://ageing.oxfordjournals.org/content/24/1/67.short

How about "Footwear characteristics and risk of indoor and outdoor falls in older people" by Menz? http://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/91827

(I have a copy of the latter, and a bunch more by Menz, who seems to specialize in footwear and the elderly.)http://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/91827

 

[Ahcuah]

Here's another Menz: "Footwear and postural stability in older people"

 

[Barefoot TJ]

The first article is closest to what I remember, although I don't think it's this exact article. The other two are not. Thanks, Ahcuah.

 

[Sid]

Thanks, Ahcuah!

The review article looked at two case control studies. They looked at what people where wearing when they fell, and tried to match them up with people wearing the same footwear and didn't fall. What these studies can't say is why people picked what they chose to wear, and what would have happened had they chosen something else. It's possible that people who went barefoot couldn't find comfortable shoes, and would have fallen anyway while wearing shoes.

That's why studies of specific factors are important, such as the article on propioception that Ahcuah posted.