Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2017
Abstract
The objective was to develop a methodology to assess Pressure Discomfort Thresholds (PDT), Pressure Pain Thresholds (PPT), and tissue stiffness on the plantar surface of the foot. Ten male and ten female participants volunteered for the study. Foot landmarks were used to create a standardized grid-type template of 95 points. For each test point, PPT and PDT values were obtained, and stiffness was calculated for each of the twenty participants. Cluster analyses were performed to determine the regions of similarity for the three dependent variables, PPT, PDT and stiffness. Moran’s-I-index was used to determine the spatial auto correlations. The use of k-means clustering showed five distinct clusters while the three dependent variables showed strong correlations to each other. Morisita’s similarity index was used to check the similarity of the grid among all participants. Both male and female participants showed a Morisita’s index greater than 0.7 confirming the reliability of the foot template.
Copyright Statement
This is an accepted manuscript of an article published in Ergonomics (2017), available online at doi: 10.1080/00140139.2016.1229042
Publication Information
Weerasinghe, Thilina W.; Goonetilleke, Ravindra S.; and Reischl, Uwe. (2017). "Pressure Thresholds and Stiffness on the Plantar Surface of the Human Foot". Ergonomics, 60(7), 985-996. https://doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2016.1229042