Ground Reaction Forces during Running in Flatfoot Population Compared with Healthy Controls

Flatfoot is one of the common complications in individuals. The study of ground reaction forces (GRF) in different activities has clinical importance. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to analyze the GRF during running in individuals with flatfoot compared with healthy subjects.

12 healthy men and 12 male patients with flatfoot participated in this study. By two force plates (1000Hz), GFR components during the stance phase of running were measured. Independent t-test was used to investigate differences between groups. The significance level was p≤0.05.

The results showed that there is a significant difference between the two groups in ground reaction force of Fx1 (p= 0.001), Fx3 (p= 0.03), Fy1 (p= 0.001), Fz1 (p= 0.03), Fz3 (p= 0.01), and the mean difference between these components was lower in the group of flatfeet compared to the healthy group.

Reducing some of the surface reaction force components in flatfoot individuals may be affected by the range of motion and torque of different anti-gravity muscles or adopting a strategy of stiffening the knee in these individuals.