The effects of prolonged standing in occupational footwear on perceived discomfort, standing balance, and gait biomechanics in young adults

While occupational footwear (OF) are designed to protect workers from acute injury, it is unclear whether OF affects worker function in otherwise innocuous tasks (i.e., standing and walking). Twenty individuals attended two sessions, wearing athletic footwear (AF) in one and OF in the other. Perceived discomfort, standing balance and gait parameters were measured before and after a 2-h prolonged standing protocol. Compared to AF, foot discomfort was 46 ± 4% greater (p = 0.020) after prolonged standing in OF. Standing balance was also differentially affected between footwear, with medio-lateral sway frequency increasing by 2 ± 3% when wearing OF (p = 0.020) but not in AF. Prolonged standing altered some gait parameters (e.g. increased stance duration, reduced propulsive force, etc.), but all changes were independent of footwear. Therefore, wearing OF is unlikely to cause any substantial changes in standing balance or gait that increases the risk of overuse workplace injury.