Table 2 Characteristics of included studies
Part A – review articles | ||||||
Authors | Language of publication | Review design | Search date/year of last included publication | Inclusion criteriab | ||
 Barnish and Barnish, 2016 [21] | English | Systematic review | July 2015 | Full-text original research studies published in peer-reviewed journals; published in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch or Portuguese; able to be retrieved; providing data to associate high heel wear with at least one of osteoarthritis, musculoskeletal pain or hallux valgus verified by clinical diagnosis or assessment, or first- or second-party injury; assessing human participants without prior history of musculoskeletal conditions or other serious conditions likely to affect outcomes; using any quantitative epidemiological design | ||
 Cowley et al., 2009 [25] | English | Non-systematic review | 2007a | Not stated: the research question was about the effect of high heels on female gait and posture | ||
 Cronin, 2014 [22] | English | Non-systematic review | 2012a | Not stated: the research question was about how high heels affect female gait | ||
 Murley et al., 2009 [24] | English | Systematic review | 2007 | Main outcome for muscle activity was EMG or muscle activity during walking or running; assessed changes in foot posture, orthoses or footwear; statistical testing was conducted; human participants without neurological disease; not a single case report or ‘n of 1 study’ | ||
 Riskowski et al., 2011 [26] | English | Non-systematic review | 2010a | Not stated: This is a wide-ranging review that covers both problematic effects of footwear on health and how footwear can be used as therapy | ||
Russell, 2010 [27] | English | Non-systematic review | June 2010 | English-language publications about the relationship between high heels and lumbar lordosis | ||
 Silva et al., 2013 [28] | English (also available in Portuguese) | Non-systematic review | 2011 | Articles published between 1980 and 2011, regardless of study design with participants partly or entirely females aged between 10 and 19; assessing posture of spine and lower limbs, location of centre of gravity and effects of high heels on the adolescent musculoskeletal system. It is noted that 5 studies were added that did not fulfil the criteria | ||
Part B – primary studies | ||||||
Authors | Language of publication | Country | Study design | Participants | Exposures | Outcomes |
 Guéguen, 2015 [20] | English | France | Psychology experiment | Random selection. Experiment 1: men aged 25–50. Experiment 2: men and women aged 25–50. Experiment 3: men and women aged 20–45. Experiment 4: men aged 20–28. Between one and four female confederates were used, mean age 19, height without heels 167–168 cm, weight 54-57 kg. | Flat shoe vs medium (5 cm) heel vs high (9 cm) heel | Participation in surveys, helping the confederate when she has dropped a glove and approaching her in a bar |
 Guéguen and Stefan, 2015 [37] | English | France | Psychology experiment | Random selection. Experiment 1: men aged 18–35. Experiment 2: men and women aged 25–50. Experiment 3: male undergraduate students, mean age 20. Experiments 1 and 2: between one and four female confederates were used, mean age 19, height without heels 167-169 cm, weight 55-58 kg. Experiment 3: one 30 year old women was used as the target. | Experiments 1 and 2: Flat shoe vs medium (5 cm) heel vs high (9 cm) heel. Experiment 3: Flat shoe vs high (9 cm) heel | Smiling back, participation in a survey and attractiveness ratings |
 Guéguen et al., 2014 [38] | English | France | Psychology experiment | Male and female undergraduate business students aged 18–22. One 20 year old woman was used as the target. | Flat shoe vs high (9 cm) heel | Attractiveness ratings |
 Maarouf, 2015 [39] | English | Egypt | Cross-sectional | 3 groups: businesswomen, female ‘workers’ and female university students | Heel height: high or not (no explicit cut-off) | Self-rated attractiveness, by questionnaire |
 Morris, 2013 [19] | English | UK | Psychology experiment | No specific inclusion criteria for raters. Walkers were an opportunity sample of young women who wore high heels at least weekly | Flat shoe vs high heel (6 cm) | Attractiveness index; correct gender identification |