• 한국전문물리치료학회지
• /
• 제6권2호
• /
• pp.43-55
• /
• 1999

In today's society, many women wear high-heeled shoes, but the effect of heel height on lumbar lordosis has not been clearly defined. The objective of this study was to identify the influence of heel height and general characteristics of subjects on lumbar lordosis. The subjects of this study were 40 healthy women who were students of the Department of Physical Therapy, College of Rehabilitation Science, Taegu University. Flexible ruler measurement was used to measure the lumbar lordosis at barefoot, 3 cm and 7 cm high-heeled standing positions. The results were as follows: 1) Significant statistical decrease in lumbar lordosis was observed as heel heights were increased from barefoot to 7 cm high heel. 2) There were no statistically significant differences between lumbar lordosis according to three different heel heights and weight, body mass index. 3) Lumbar lordosis measured at different heel heights was related to subject's height. With increasing subject's height, lumbar lordosis that measured from each heel height was significantly decreased. As heel heights were increased from barefoot to 7 cm high heel, significant statistical decrease in lumbar lordosis was observed in the subjects whose height were 151~160 cm. 4) Intrarater reliability on lumbar lordosis taken with a flexible ruler was good, with Cronbach ${\alpha}$ values of 0.8971 for barefoot, 0.8107 for 3 cm and 0.9002 for 7 cm high-heeled standing positions.

• 복식
• /
• 제65권7호
• /
• pp.86-100
• /
• 2015

This study is to investigate the relationships between heel height and macro-economic factors - recession and unemployment; and to analyze the time lags reflecting economic factors on heel height index using U.S. data. The life-history evolution theory was applied to propose the relationships studied. The data for the heel height measurements of women's shoes - pump style only - were obtained from US Vogue fashion editorial sections on spring and fall editions from 1950 to 2014. I divided the heel height by the length of the shoes in order to standardize the data. Total of 1581 samples were used, and heel height data were aggregated to create a yearly average. To explore the relationships between macro-economic factors and heel height, this study used OLS of Stata 13 program. The main findings show that unemployment rates influenced heel height for three years in a positive direction. Furthermore, the effects of unemployment rate from two years ago on the current heel height were very close to being on a significant level.

• 대한인간공학회지
• /
• 제35권1호
• /
• pp.39-52
• /
• 2016

Objective: This paper investigates gait changes according to different heel heights and speeds, and the interaction between the effects of the heel height and the speed during walking on stride parameters and joint angles. Furthermore, the relationship among heel height, speed and gait variables is investigated using linear regression. Background: Gait changes by heel height or speed have been studied respectively, but has not been reported whether there is an interaction effect between heel height and speed. It would be necessary to understand how gait changes when a person wears heels in different heights at various speeds, for example, high-heeled walking at fast speed, since it may cause unusual gait patterns and musculoskeletal disorders. Method: Ten females were asked to walk at five fixed cadences (94, 106, 118, 130 and 142 steps/min.) wearing three shoes with different heel heights (1, 5.4 and 9.8cm). Nineteen gait variables were analyzed for stride parameters and joint angles using two-way repeated measure analysis of variance and regression analysis. Results: Both heel height and speed affect movement of ankle, knee, spine and elbow joint, as well as stride length and Double/Single support time ratio. However, there is no significant interaction effect between heel height and speed. The regression result shows linear relationships of gait variables with heel height and speed. Conclusion: Heel height and speed independently affect stride parameters and joint angles without a significant interaction, so the gait variables are linearly amplified or diminished by the two factors. Application: Walking in high heels at fast speed should be careful for musculoskeletal disorders, since the amplified movement of knee and spine joint can lead to increased moment. Also, the result might give insight for animators or engineers to generate walking motion with high heels at various speeds.

• 복식문화연구
• /
• 제23권4호
• /
• pp.604-615
• /
• 2015

The objectives of this study were to investigate whether heel height changes in the U.S. market occur in a cyclical pattern and heel heights show greater within-year variability over time. Heel height data from U.S. Vogue's spring and fall editions were analyzed over the time period 1950~2014. A total of 1581 pieces of data were measured in millimeter units using Adobe Illustrator and standardized by dividing the height of the heel by the shoe length through the curved sole line. To analyze the cycle pattern of heel heights, the yearly averages were standardized by using three-year moving average technique to average out the irregular components of time series data and give a better indication of the long-term fluctuation of heel height. To identify the degree of within-year variability of heel height, the standard deviation of the average measurements for a year was calculated, and then decade averages were drawn from the yearly averaged standard deviation. One-way ANOVA was conducted to compare the within-year variability of data in heel height over the time period studied by decade. The results showed: First, there was a trend toward higher heels from the early 1950s to 2011. Second, four cyclical movements of heel height were observed from 1950 to 2007, and heel heights gradually decreased after 2008. Third, the within-year variability significantly increased over time, especially after the 1980s.

• PNF and Movement
• /
• 제10권1호
• /
• pp.35-41
• /
• 2012

Purpose : This study was conducted to identify the effects of high heel shoes on surface electromyography(EMG) activities fo tibialis anterior(TA), soles(S), and gastrocnemius(G) in 12 healthy women. Methods : Subjects were composed of three group(sports shoes, 5cm heel height shoes, and 9cm heel height shoes). The muscle activity of the TA, G, S in the lower leg were measured using a surface EMG. Results : Results of one way repeated measures ANOVA of the after waling 30minutes standing task duration among the sport shoes, 5cm, and 9cm heel height conditions. The comparison of the muscular activities showed significant differences in the G muscles among the high heel shoes. Conclusion : Wearing high heel shoes for hours will bring inappropriate alignment of the lower limbs and cause postural changes or abnormal sensation and several other problems in the body, resulting in exposure to ankle sprain or fall injuries.

• 대한인간공학회지
• /
• 제16권3호
• /
• pp.37-48
• /
• 1997

It is very common for women wear shoes with a high heel. It has been known that the high heel could disfigure the foot shape and cause various joint problems including back pain. However, few quantitative studies have been conducted. Therefore, in this study, the low back muscle has been investigated in order to find fatifue effect due to different heights of the heel. In particular, 0, 4, 6 and 8cm heel and two different shapes of heel have been used for an experiment. Ten healthy female subjects volunteered for the study. Isometric Trunk Exertion Frame(ITEF) and Electromyography were used to measure tha Median Frequency via Spectral analysis. The results indicated that the heel height significantly affected the local muscle fatigue of the back. After post hoc analysis, it was found that a proper heel height ougth to be lower than 5cm not to have severely fatigued back muscle after a casual walk for an hour. Such results could be applies to female industrial workers in order to prevent a cumulative trauma disorder of the back, and also to design a female dress shoes minimizing low back fatigue.

• 대한물리치료과학회지
• /
• 제19권1호
• /
• pp.55-62
• /
• 2012

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of high heeled shoes on the static & dynamic balance performance and electromyography(EMG) of back and lower extremity muscles. Materials & Methods : Sixteen women participated in this study. Subjects were composed two groups with LL shoes group and higher heel shoes group. We carried out Romberg's test and muscle activity of left and right Paraspinalis, Quadriceps femoris, Tibialis anterior, Gastrocnemius muscles by EMG in order to determine static balance performance according heel height. Using by Biorescue(Incenierie company), we trained subject to transfer of COG each direction(Anterior, posterior, Right, Left), we carried out this test for distance, surface, distance/surface in order to determine dynamic balance performance according heel height. The data were analyzed by independent t-test between lower and high heel height using SPSS(ver. 17.0)/PC program. Results : There was significant difference of distance(p<.05) of weight perturbation between lower and high group in dynamic balance performance and EMG value of left Gastrocnemius(p<.05), both Tibialis anterior(p<.05) muscle in static balance performance. Conclusions : Height of heel has effect on dynamic balance performance in distance of the Anterior, posterior direction. EMG of Gastrocnemius and Tibialis anterior muscles were affected by Romberg's test.

• 대한물리의학회지
• /
• 제6권2호
• /
• pp.135-143
• /
• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate onset timing of vastus medialis oblique(VMO) relative to vastus lateralis(VL) the VMO/VL electromyographic(EMG) ratio according to heel height Methods: A repeated measures design was used. Fifteen healthy female college students with no known knee musculoskeletal dysfunction were recruited this study. They carried out a standardised stair acent activity under 4 conditions; barefoot, and with heel height of 1, 3, 7 cm. Muscle activity was measured by surface EMG (Myosystem 1400A, Noraxon Inc., U.S.A). Data were analysed using $1{\times}4$ repeated measures ANOVA. Results: Onset timing differed with heel height(p<.05). However, the VMO/VL EMG ratio was not significantly difference between conditions. Conclusion: We found that 7 cm heel height delayed in VMO onset compared with 3 cm heel height during stair ascent, but no change in the relative EMG intensity of VMO and VL as measured by th VMO/VL ratio. The findings indicate that high-heeled shoes may have disadvantages in knee stability because of delayed onset of VMO. Due to a lack of knee joint stability, wearing of high heeled shoes should be avoided.

• 국제물리치료학회지
• /
• 제2권2호
• /
• pp.324-328
• /
• 2011

The purpose of this study is to measure the effect of change in heel height on lower extremities activity of young women on high-heeled shoes that young women prefer from more kinetic and realistic perspective as this study changes the degree of slope on a treadmill. The study subjects are 15 young and healthy women who do not have any external injuries or problem with walking and understand the purpose of this study clearly. They wore three different height of heels(1cm, 7cm, 12cm) and walked on a treadmill at a constant speed of 3km/h. EMG value of four muscles (anterior tibial muscle, gastrocnemius muscle, straight muscle of thigh, and biceps muscle of thigh) were collected when walking and the change according to the height of heels were analyzed using one-way ANOVA. Multiple comparison analysis on anterior tibial muscle and heel height showed that the group with 12cm heel showed significantly high muscle activation compared to the groups with 1cm and 7cm heels. The result of this study can be used for various perspectives from inferring and mediating problems caused by wearing high heels on different ground slopes for a long time.

• 대한물리치료과학회지
• /
• 제19권2호
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2012

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of different heel height on the electromyographic (EMG) activity in Rectus abdominis (RA) and Erector spinae (ES) during gait activity. Methods : A repeated measures design was used. 33 healthy females carried out a standardized gait activity under 3 conditions; with heel wedges of 1, 7, and 12cm in height. EMG activity was recorded from RA and ES during the activity. Data was analysed using the repeated one-way ANOVA. Results : First, as the shoe-heel height was getting higher, change of muscle activation indicated the statistically significant difference in rectus abdominis(p<0.05). Second, as the shoe-heel height was getting higher, change of muscle activation indicated the statistically significant difference in erector spinae(p<0.05). Conclusion : We found that as heel height increased, there was an increase in EMG activity in both RA and ES. This indicated that no RA : ES imbalance was elicited. This study provides information that will inform future research on how heel height affects muscle activity around the trunk.