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3/22/2016 Methods of Postural Assessment Used for Sports Persons

J Clin Diagn Res. 2014 Apr; 8(4): LE01–LE04. PMCID: PMC4064851
Published online 2014 Apr 15. doi: 10.7860/JCDR/2014/6836.4266

Methods of Postural Assessment Used for Sports Persons

Deepika Singla1 and Zubia Veqar 2

1 Assiatant Professor, Department of Physiotherapy, Adhunik Institute of Education and Research (Chaudhary Charan Singh University), Uttar Pradesh,
India.
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Physiotherapy, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India.

Corresponding author.
NAME, ADDRESS, E­MAIL ID OF THE CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Dr. Zubia Veqar, Assistant Professor, Department of Physiotherapy, Jamia Millia
Islamia, New Delhi­110025, India. Phone: 09958993486, E­mail: veqar.zubia@gmail.com

Received 2013 Jul 2; Revisions requested 2013 Sep 24; Accepted 2014 Feb 7.

Copyright © 2014 Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research

Abstract Go to:

Occurrence of postural defects has become very common now­a­days not only in general population but also in
sports persons. There are various methods which can be used to assess these postural defects. These methods have
evolved over a period of many years. This paper is first of its kind to summarize the methods of postural assessment
which have been used and which can be used for evaluation of postural abnormalities in sports persons such as the
visual observation, plumbline, goniometry, photographic, radiographic, photogrammetric, flexiruler,
electromagnetic tracking device etc. We recommend more and more postural evaluation studies to be done in future
based on the photogrammetric method.

Keywords: Posture, Photogrammetry, Injury

Introduction Go to:

Assessment of posture forms the very basis of physiotherapy assessment. It helps in identifying the defects in body,
which lead to various musculoskeletal problems. Postural assessment is an important tool which can be used to
assess the reasons behind various injuries in sports persons, since repetitive loading of body caused by sports
activities leads to certain postural alterations, which can ultimately cause pain and injury. A variety of postural
assessment methods have been in use. Some are conventional, while some are latest and few are those which got
modified into latest form from conventional forms i.e. these evolved into better and convenient methods. Only
conventional methods were used in the past when advanced methods were not available. These have now been
superseded by newer methods. However, the older ones are still used when the option of availability of advanced
methods is not there. Following are some of the conventional methods.

Visual observation method 1/7

It is the commonest method which is used to assess posture in clinical practice. The one and only advantage of this
method is that it does not require any equipment. With this method, quantitative data cannot be obtained. Thus,
minor postural alterations cannot be detected. Also, it has been reported to have a poor interrater agreement [1]. All
these limitations discourage the use of this method for scientific research purposes. A recent study [2] was done,
based on visual observation method. The following variables were assessed: head position in frontal plane, neck
position in frontal plane, side head position, side neck position, position of shoulders in frontal plane, position of
shoulders in sagittal plane, thorax aspect, knees aspect, shoulder blades position, scapulae alatae, lordosis, kyphosis,
scoliosis, lorenz’s triangle, spina iliaca, anterior superior position and flat feet. If a postural problem was present

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4064851/