Test-retest reliability of the Tekscan® F-Scan® 7 in-shoe plantar pressure system during treadmill walking in healthy recreationally active individuals.

In-shoe plantar pressure systems are commonly used in clinical and research settings to assess foot function during functional tasks. Recently, Tekscan® has updated their F-Scan® in-shoe plantar pressure system; however, this system's test-retest reliability has not been established. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the test-retest reliability of the F-Scan® 7 system in recreationally active individuals during treadmill walking. Seventeen healthy adults completed 2 sessions of treadmill walking. For each session, participants were fitted for shoes and pressure insoles and walked on a treadmill at a self-selected pace for 30 s. Following the sessions, the test-retest reliability peak pressure, pressure time integral, average pressure and pressure contact area over 4 regions of the foot (heel, mid-foot, forefoot and toes) was assessed by calculating intraclass coefficients (ICC 2,k) and coefficient of variation percentage (CoV%). Pressure contact area consistently had the highest ICCs and lowest CoV% (ICCs: 0.91-0.98; CoV%: 2.7-7.8%). Whereas, the forefoot and toe regions had the highest ICCs for all 4 measures (ICCs: 0.83-0.98; CoV%: 3.1-13.4%). During treadmill walking in healthy recreationally active individuals, the reliability of the new Tekscan F-Scan® ranged from poor to high and was dependent on the measure and region of the foot.