Centennial Honors College
Western Illinois University
Undergraduate Research Day 2014
Poster Presentation
An analysis of Spatio-temporal Gait Kinematics for Three Types of Footwear
Nadia Barrera
Faculty Mentor: Tamara Bories
Kinesiology
The objective of this study is to analyze whether or not gait patterns change while
wearing different types of footwear. One participant performed two walking trials while
wearing athletic shoes, high heeled shoes, and flat soled shoes. She walked a total
distance of 17 meters, with three meters at the start allotted for an acceleration phase
and two meters at the end for deceleration. The participant was filmed wearing lightreflecting markers on their toe, heel, and ankle. The film was later digitized to quantify
the gait speed, step length, and step cadence while wearing each type of shoe. Gait
speed was measured by recording the amount of time it took the participant to walk 12
meters. Step length was calculated by measuring the distance between right and left
heel contact with the ground. Step cadence was calculated by recording the amount of
steps per minute. Analysis of the results shows that spatio-temporal patterns in the flat
shoe and athletic shoe were similar but differed when wearing the high heel shoes.
Knowledge of how different footwear leads to adapting gait patterns will help identify
changes in postural control that may result in falls or injury. Future research may
investigate different heel heights in high heeled shoes to determine when and how
changes in gait occur.