The Effect of Minimalist Footwear on the Anthropometric and Biomechanical Parameters of the Lower Limb and Foot

The Effect of Minimalist Footwear on the Anthropometric and Biomechanical Parameters of the Lower Limb and Foot During Long-Term Wearing: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT04971915

Enrollment

Registered

2021-07-22

Start date

2021-07-05

Completion date

2022-12-05

Last updated

2022-12-16

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Footwear

Keywords

minimalist footwear, shoes, biomechanics, anthropometric parameters, foot, walking

Brief summary

The study aims to determine whether 6months of wearing minimalist footwear causes changes in anthropometric parameters of the foot and the biomechanical parameters of the foot and lower limb.

Detailed description

The minimalist footwear represents an alternative style of footwear wearing, which could allow the foot to move more naturally compared to the footwear wearing in conventional footwear. That footwear is characterized by no cushioning, wide toe box, zero foot drop, thin sole (1,5 - 8 mm), low weight, and high flexibility of footwear. This study aims to determine the effect of 6months of wearing minimalist footwear on the foot and lower limb's anthropometric and biomechanical parameters. The study is designed as a parallel interventional study. The sample size consists of 50 healthy individuals divided into experimental and control groups by randomization. All participants undergo the initial examination and baseline and final measurement focused on the foot anthropometry and kinetics and kinematics of the foot and lower limb during walking. Besides, the experimental group undergoes a 6months intervention of wearing minimalist footwear, during which the participants will record their movement behavior by electronic diary.

Interventions

OTHERminimalist footwear

The intervention consists of wearing the minimalist footwear in recommended progression during the interventional period (6months). The intial load starts at 2,500 steps a day and will be gradually increased up according to the participant´s tolerance rate to the footwear wearing to fully use over the final period. Participants are instructed to report all issues and difficulties possibly connected to the intervention. There will be the opportunity to consult any issue connected with footwear or their wearing through the duration of the research.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 40 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Healthy individuals * Individuals without previous experience in wearing minimalist footwear

Exclusion criteria

* Significant deformities of the feet and toes * Pain of the musculoskeletal system * Injury, congenital or gained defect of the musculoskeletal or neural system in past * Undergo operation of lower limbs in past or during research

Design outcomes

Primary

Countries

Czechia

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026

Measure	Time frame	Description
Change in range of motion of pelvis, joints of lower limb and foot in coronal, transversal and frontal plane during stance phase of the gait cycle	at baseline and at the end of 6 months intervention	Range of motion of pelvis, joints of lower limb and foot in coronal, transversal and frontal plane during stance phase of the gait cycle will be measured by the Vicon Vantage V5 (Vicon Motion System, London, Great Britain).
Change in maximal value of range of motion of pelvis, joints of lower limb and foot in coronal, transversal and frontal plane during stance phase of the gait cycle	at baseline and at the end of 6 months intervention	Maximal value of range of motion of pelvis, joints of lower limb and foot in coronal, transversal and frontal plane during stance phase of the gait cycle will be measured by the Vicon Vantage V5 (Vicon Motion System, London, Great Britain).
Change in minimal value of range of motion of pelvis, joints of lower limb and foot in coronal, transversal and frontal plane during stance phase of the gait cycle	at baseline and at the end of 6 months intervention	Minimal value of range of motion of pelvis, joints of lower limb and foot in coronal, transversal and frontal plane during stance phase of the gait cycle will be measured by the Vicon Vantage V5 (Vicon Motion System, London, Great Britain).
Change in angular velocity of pelvis, joints of lower limb and foot in coronal, transversal and frontal plane during stance phase of the gait cycle	at baseline and at the end of 6 months intervention	Angular velocity of pelvis, joints of lower limb and foot in coronal, transversal and frontal plane during stance phase of the gait cycle will be measured by the Vicon Vantage V5 (Vicon Motion System, London, Great Britain).
Change in walking velocity	at baseline and at the end of 6 months intervention	Walking velocity will be measured by the Vicon Vantage V5 (Vicon Motion System, London, Great Britain).
Change in walking cadence	at baseline and at the end of 6 months intervention	Walking cadence will be measured by the Vicon Vantage V5 (Vicon Motion System, London, Great Britain).
Change in step length during walking	at baseline and at the end of 6 months intervention	Step length will be measured by the Vicon Vantage V5 (Vicon Motion System, London, Great Britain).
Change in duration of stance phase of the gait cycle	at baseline and at the end of 6 months intervention	Duration of stance phase of the gait cycle will be measured by the Vicon Vantage V5 (Vicon Motion System, London, Great Britain).
Change in maximum value of the vertical component of ground reaction force during walking	at baseline and at the end of 6 months intervention	Maximum value of the vertical component of ground reaction force will be measured by two force plates Kistler (Kistler, Winterhur, Switzerland) synchronized with Vicon Vantage V5 (Vicon Motion System, London, Great Britain).
Change in minimum value of the vertical component of ground reaction force during walking	at baseline and at the end of 6 months intervention	Minimum value of the vertical component of ground reaction force will be measured by two force plates Kistler (Kistler, Winterhur, Switzerland) synchronized with Vicon Vantage V5 (Vicon Motion System, London, Great Britain).
Change in impulse of the vertical component of ground reaction force during walking	at baseline and at the end of 6 months intervention	Impulse of the vertical component of ground reaction force will be measured by two force plates Kistler (Kistler, Winterhur, Switzerland) synchronized with Vicon Vantage V5 (Vicon Motion System, London, Great Britain).
Change in lower limbs joints moments during walking	at baseline and at the end of 6 months intervention	Lower limbs joints moments will be measured by two force plates Kistler (Kistler, Winterhur, Switzerland) synchronized with Vicon Vantage V5 (Vicon Motion System, London, Great Britain).
Change in peak plantar pressure at anatomical regions of the foot sole during walking	at baseline and at the end of 6 months intervention	Peak plantar pressure at anatomical regions of the foot sole during walking will be measured by pressure plate 2M footscan® (RSscan International NV, Paal, Belgium).
Change in contact time at anatomical regions of the foot sole during walking	at baseline and at the end of 6 months intervention	Contact time at anatomical regions of the foot sole during walking will be measured by pressure plate 2M footscan® (RSscan International NV, Paal, Belgium).
Change in contact area at anatomical regions of the foot sole during walking.	at baseline and at the end of 6 months intervention	Contact area at anatomical regions of the foot sole during walking will be measured by pressure plate 2M footscan® (RSscan International NV, Paal, Belgium).
Change in pressure-time integral at anatomical regions of the foot sole during walking	at baseline and at the end of 6 months intervention	Pressure-time integral at anatomical regions of the foot sole during walking will be measured by pressure plate 2M footscan® (RSscan International NV, Paal, Belgium).
Change in maximum force at anatomical regions of the foot sole during walking	at baseline and at the end of 6 months intervention	Maximum force at anatomical regions of the foot sole during walking will be measured by pressure plate 2M footscan® (RSscan International NV, Paal, Belgium).
Change in foot length	at baseline and at the end of 6 months intervention	Foot length will be measured by RSS 3D Scanner (RSScan International NV, Paal, Belgium).
Change in foot width	at baseline and at the end of 6 months intervention	Foot width will be measured by RSS 3D Scanner (RSScan International NV, Paal, Belgium).
Change in tactile-foot perception	at baseline and at the end of 6 months intervention	Tactile-foot perception will be measured by Baseline Tactile Monofilaments (Fabrication Enterprises, White Plains, NY, USA).