The Comparison of "Whole Body Vibration" and "Routine Exercise Therapy" for a Period of 6 Weeks on Navicular Drop in Children with Bilateral Flexible Flat Foot

Flat foot is a condition with decreased neutral foot arch due to different factors such as muscle weakness. It can cause excessive pronation of subtalar joint in the stance phase of the gait cycle, increasing of external rotation of the femur, apparent changes in lower limbs kinematics and also gait dysfunctions. Various studies showed the effects of the whole-body vibration on the strengthening of knee musculature, especially in a patient with anterior cruciate ligament deficiency. None of the study reported the positive impact of whole-body vibration in foot dysfunctions. The current study aimed to evaluate the navicular drop changes in children aged 6-12 years with flexible flat feet.

The current Quasi-Experimental study enrolled 44 children (girls and boys, aged 6-12 years) with a flexible flat foot and divided into two groups of 22 participants. One group received whole-body vibration, and the other group received routine exercise therapy for six weeks. The navicular drop was measured before and immediately after six weeks.

The results showed a significant change in both the groups in the direction of treatment of flat foot (p<0.001). However, the changes were more prominent in whole-body vibration group (47%) than the exercise group (15%) (p<0.001).

These findings show that both the presiders of the whole-body vibration and routine exercise therapy could make significant changes in treatments groups. However, whole-body vibration could be more efficient than the exercise therapy. Further studies in this field are recommended using higher number of samples and different age groups.