The effects of obesity on gait
Research type
Research Study
Full title
To investigate the effect of insoles and gait re-training on the reduction of knee pain in patients with obesity prior to bariatric surgery.
IRAS ID
357069
Contact name
Gautam Singh
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Huddersfield
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Obesity is a significant risk factor for numerous chronic health conditions. Increased body mass can lead to excessive pressure across weight-bearing joints, resulting in issues like osteoarthritis and chronic joint pain. This can seriously affect mobility and reduce the level of physical activity in obese patients. This study aims to determine the effect of insoles and gait re-training on alleviating the joint pain in obese patients waiting for bariatric surgery, thereby increasing their exercise tolerance prior to surgery.
Insoles and gait re-training are non-invasive interventions that have shown promise in alleviating knee joint pain and improving mobility in patients with knee osteoarthritis. This study seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions in obese individuals in a pre-surgical context.Participants over the age of 18 with BMI of 30 Kg/m2 and above will be recruited from University of Huddersfield student group, Kirklees community and Huddersfield Royal Infirmary Hospital. They will be inducted after a written informed consent process and medical screening.
The first phase of the study involves focus-groups where we investigate the acceptability of gait analysis methodologies and gait retraining interventions for individuals with obesity. This would be conducted by external PPIE consultants Hodgkinson-McCambridge at the University of Huddersfield.
The second phase will be to compare the walking gait measures from a marker-less motion capture system to an established marker-based system, in people with obesity and in people with healthy weight, subsequently to determine the reliability of walking gait measures in obese individuals with marker-based and marker-less motion capture.
The third phase will be to study the effect of wedge insoles with/without gait re-training on the forces at the weight-bearing joints in obese patients waiting for bariatric surgery .
Phase 2 and 3 will be conducted at Biomechanics laboratory at the University of Huddersfield.The overall research is estimated to span 3 years.
REC name
Wales REC 5
REC reference
26/WA/0134
Date of REC Opinion
10 Jun 2026
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion