Diabetic foot prevention: Repeatability of the loran platform plantar pressure and load distribution measurements in nondiabetic subjects during bipedal standing: A pilot study

This study was designed to assess the repeatability of the Loran Platform and evaluate the variability of plantar pressure and postural balance, during barefoot standing in nondiabetic subjects, for future diabetic foot clinical evaluation. Measurements were taken for eight nondiabetic subjects (4 females, 4 males, aged 47± 7.2 years) who had no musculoskeletal symptoms. Five variables were measured with the platform in the barefoot standing position. Ten measurements were taken using two different techniques for feet and posture positioning, during three sessions, once a week. For most measurements, no significant effect over time was found with Student's t-test (P<.000125). The ANOVA test of statistical significance confirmed that measurement differences between subjects showed higher variations than measurements taken from the same subject (P<.001). The measurements taken by the Loran Platform system were found to be repeatable. © 2011 Martha Zequera et al.