The effect of different textured foot orthoses on ankle and knee joint muscles co-contraction in male and female older adults during walking

Foot orthoses have been considered to affect static and dynamic functional capacity and could help older adults maintain balance while walking. However, the impact of textured foot orthoses over co-contraction strategies remains uncertain. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the effect of different textured foot orthoses on ankle and knee joint muscle co-contraction in male and female older adults during walking. How do different textured foot orthoses affect ankle and knee joint muscle co-contraction in older adults during walking? Twenty-eight older adults (14 males and 14 females) participated in this semi-experimental and laboratory study. They walked with customized textured foot orthoses. The muscle activity during walking at five conditions (rigid small textured orthoses, rigid large textured orthoses, soft small textured orthoses, soft large textured orthoses, and without orthoses) was registered, and the directed co-contraction (DCC) and general co-contraction (GCC) were calculated. In the "without orthoses" condition, the participants used shoes only (without insoles). The results showed that rigid large textured orthoses reduced ankle DCC at the loading phase (p