Investigating the stabilising and mobilising features of footedness

Abstract

This study investigated lower limb laterality for stabilising and mobilising actions in 10 right- and 10 mixed-footed participants by determining, via the Waterloo Footedness Questionnaire – Revised (WFQ-R), the preferred foot in carrying out a range of stabilising and mobilising activities and by recording foot performance on standing balance and ball juggling. The log odds ratio (λ score) was used to quantify the degree of laterality in task performance. Differences between the stability and mobility scores and the two groups were analyzed using a 2 (Group)×2 (Task) ANOVA model with repeated measures on Task. Right- and mixed-footed participants differed significantly in the stability but not in the mobility items of the WFQ-R. No significant between-group differences were noted in either ball-juggling or standing balance performance. Mixed-footed participants had a significant right–left foot difference in standing balance, whereas both groups had a significant right–left foot difference in ball juggling. It is concluded that preference is not a steady attribute across the mobility and stability items of the WFQ-R and appears to be dependent on the behavioural context of a particular task. Results further indicated a lack of concordance between questionnaire and performance-based measures suggesting that these two methods of measuring laterality may be indicators of different underlying factors.

Keywords:

• Footedness
• Laterality
• Cerebral organisation
• Stability
• Mobility