Women's shoes and knee osteoarthritis. Kerrigan D C,Lelas J L,Karvosky M E Lancet (London, England) We assessed whether wearing wide-heeled shoes has a similar effect on knee torque to narrow-heeled shoes by measuring the joint torques of 20 healthy women during walking. Wearing wide-heeled shoes had a 30% greater effect on peak external knee flexor torque than walking barefoot. Walking with wide-heeled and narrow-heeled shoes increased peak knee varus torque by 26% and 22%, respectively. Our findings imply that wide-heeled shoes cause abnormal forces across the patellofemoral and medial compartments of the knee, which are the typical anatomical sites for degenerative joint changes. 10.1016/S0140-6736(00)04312-9