Article

Spinal posture assessment is an essential component in physical evaluation.
Establishing reproducible value of spinal curves is necessary for detecting
postural changes. Therefore, the main objectives of this study were to assess the
reproducibility of spinal curves in relaxed standing of healthy subjects and to
explore the extent and pattern of change upon transition from relaxed to a fully
erect posture. Thirty young women and men were measured twice over a 1 week
interval for recording the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar curves values using an
ultrasound-based system. Thereafter, additional 28 men and women extracted from
the same reference group were assigned for a single measurement session, in which
the same angular values were obtained in relaxed and fully erect standing
postures, as well as stature using stadiometer. Excellent, good, and poor
reproducibility indices, standard error of measurement (SEM), and smallest real
difference (SRD), were noted for the thoracic (interclass correlation
coefficient, ICC(3,3) = 0.95, SEM = 1.2 degrees , SRD = 3.3 degrees ), lumbar
(ICC(3,3) = 0.85, SEM = 2.6 degrees , SRD = 7.2 degrees ), and cervical (ICC(3,3)
= 0.68, SEM = 3.8 degrees , SRD = 10.5 degrees ) curves, respectively. Erecting
from relaxed posture was associated with a significant (>SRD) thoracic angle
difference of 7.2 degrees in men and 4.8 degrees in women which was expressed in
a height increase of 1.3 cm in men and 0.8 cm in women. These changes were
significantly larger in men in whom the angular and height differences were also
significantly correlated (r = 0.7). Using this system, angular measurements are
highly reproducible in the thoracic curvature in young healthy adults, leading to
the use of the associated SRD as a criterion for thoracic postural flexibility.

Langue : ANGLAIS