Measurement and reporting of footwear characteristics in running biomechanics: A systematic search and narrative synthesis of contemporary research methods

ABSTRACT

This review aimed to synthesise the methods for assessing and reporting footwear characteristics among studies evaluating the effect of footwear on running biomechanics. Electronic searches of Scopus®, EBSCO, PubMed®, ScienceDirect®, and Web of Science® were performed to identify original research articles of the effect of running footwear on running biomechanics published from 1^st January 2015 to 7^th October 2020. Risk of bias among included studies was not assessed. Results were presented via narrative synthesis. Eligible studies compared the effect of two or more footwear conditions in adult runners on a biomechanical parameter. Eighty-seven articles were included and data from 242 individual footwear were extracted. Predominantly, studies reported footwear taxonomy (i.e., classification) and manufacturer information, however omitted detail regarding the technical specifications of running footwear and did not use validated footwear reporting tools. There is inconsistency among contemporary studies in the methods by which footwear characteristics are assessed and reported. These findings point towards a need for consensus regarding the reporting of these characteristics within biomechanical studies to facilitate the conduct of systematic reviews and meta-analyses pertaining to the effect of running footwear on running biomechanics.

KEYWORDS:

• Footwear
• running
• biomechanics
• taxonomy

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the following research interns for their assistance in the screening and/or data extraction processes: Alysa Nemoto, Chaz Marcus Rossiter, Dalton Berry, In Jun Kim, and Sam Gray.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This review did not receive funding and was registered a priori with PROSPERO (protocol number: CRD42020198955).