Spinal Postural Alignment Variance According to Sex and Age in 7- and 8-Year-Old Children

Penha, Patrícia Jundi; Baldini, Marina; João, Sílvia Maria Amado

doi:10.1016/j.jmpt.2008.12.009

« Previous Next »Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics
Volume 32, Issue 2 , Pages 154-159, February 2009

Spinal Postural Alignment Variance According to Sex and Age in 7- and 8-Year-Old Children

Patrícia Jundi Penha
- Master Degree, Rehabilitation Sciences in the School of Medicine, Department of Physical Therapy, Speech and Occupational Therapy – University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Marina Baldini
- Physiotherapist, Physical Therapy Course of the School of Medicine, Department of Physical Therapy, Speech and Occupational Therapy, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Sílvia Maria Amado João, PhD
- Physiotherapist, Department of Physical Therapy, Speech and Occupational Therapy, School of Medicine of the University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
- Submit requests for reprints to: Sílvia Maria Amado João, Departamento de Fisioterapia, Fonoaudiologia e Terapia Ocupacional – Universidade de São Paulo, R. Cipotânea 51 Cidade Universitária, São Paulo 05360-000, SP, Brazil.

Received 21 January 2008; received in revised form 1 August 2008; accepted 9 September 2008.

Abstract

Purpose

Children's postural alignment undergoes many adjustments due to the changes in body proportions during the stages of growth. The objective of this study was to quantitatively characterize and analyze spinal postural standards in 7- and 8-year-old children to verify which of the differences found were correlated to age and sex.

Methods

Two hundred thirty public school students (Amparo, São Paulo, Brazil) aged 7 to 8 years were divided into groups according to postural alignment, which were further subdivided by sex and age, for comparison. Digital photos of upright subjects were analyzed to evaluate posture. Lumbar and thoracic curvature, pelvic inclination, head posture, and lateral spine deviation were measured using CorelDraw (Ottawa, Canada) software guidelines and bone landmarks. Descriptive statistics and analysis of variance data analysis were utilized to verify differences among the groups. This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study.

Results

Mean values for the variables analyzed were calculated. For lumbar lordosis, 7-year-old boys showed 38.49° ± 15.32° in comparison to all other groups (42.29° ± 7.13°). For thoracic kyphosis, the 7-year-old children presented 28.07° ± 7.73°, and the 8-year-olds 30.32° ± 7.73°. Pelvic inclination presented a mean value of 15.82° ± 5.46° and single lateral spine deviation mean value of 3.48° ± 2.12°.

Conclusion

For the sample studied, differences based on sex and age were found for some of the body segments analyzed. The values found in this study may contribute to improved physiotherapeutic treatment when associated with other aspects of the clinical assessment and symptomatology.

Key Indexing Terms: Posture, Spine, Child