Page 113 - Welcome to Posture Pro

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

markedly, it was reported; otherwise, it was marked as “0”. Whenever non­agreements occurred between the check
sheets of two kinesitherapists, a discussion was made, so as to reach an agreement and whenever this discussion
failed, a third expert was asked to evaluate the posture of that subject. The decision of the majority was finally
accepted.

Plumbline method

Use of plumbline for the evaluation of posture, along with a postural grid, too is very common, owing to its low
cost and simplicity. Posture is evaluated in accordance with the guidelines which are given by Kendall, in form of
ideal plumb line alignment for side and back views. Disadvantage associated with this method was that this method
too could not be used to produce quantifiable data [3,4].

Plumbline method [5] was used to evaluate the postures of 14 male and 12 female university sports players who
were aged 18­28 years. White adhesive labels were used to mark greater trochanter, posterior superior iliac spine,
lateral femoral epicondyle, centre of the shoulder joint and anterior superior iliac spine, prior to postural assessment.
Subjects stood in front of a posture grid which was placed behind the plumbline. Subjects were asked to walk on
the spot for ten paces and to then stop. Lumbar lordosis curvature, pelvic alignment and hip joint axis were
recorded to categorize the posture into lordotic, swayback, flatback or optimal type. Swayback posture was found
to be the most prevalent amongst the 26 subjects and the flatback posture had the least prevalence. The researchers
found a close association between pain and lordotic posture. Conversely, no pain was reported by 84 % of the
players who were classified as having an optimal posture.

Goniometry

Goniometers are used in physiotherapy practice, not only to measure joint ROM, but, also for the assessment of
posture [6]. Measurement of postural angles, such as neck inclination angle (Craniovertebral angle) and cranial
rotation angle (sagittal head tilt) by using manual goniometry has been reported in the literature [7]. Manual
goniometry possesses good to excellent reliability and thus, it is used as a reference for comparison with newer
methods of postural assessment [6]. But, one study which was conducted on fifteen non­patient subjects reported
that this method had poor interrater reliability for measuring angular variables. This was attributed to the difficulty
in maintaining the arm of the goniometer parallel with the horizontal. The ICC measures were found out to be
R=0.68 and R=0.34 for cervical rotation angle and neck inclination angle, respectively. The authors had suggested
about developing a more reliable method in future for measurement of these angles [7].

Next came the photographic and digitization method that led to modernization of postural assessment, since it
provided the physiotherapists with quantifiable and reproducible data, along with advantages such as simplicity and
convenience, that made it very popular.

Photographic and digitization method 2/7

Photographic and digitization procedure has been in use since a long time. It has been compared with the
radiographic method for postural evaluation. Its reliability too has been tested. Following are some of the research
studies which were conducted in the past by using this method:

Kilinç et al., [8] conducted a study on 40 male children to find out the effects of one­sided and double­sided
basketball training drills on the postures of these children. Two groups were made, with each group consisting of 20
children. One­sided dribbling group had children with mean age of 11.1±0.65 years and double­sided dribbling
group had children with mean age of 11.7±0.81 years. The children were photographed in anterior and lateral
views by using a digital camera which was kept on a tripod, in such a way that the distance between the camera
and the subject was 150 cms. and the vertical distance between the ground and camera was 90 cms. The images
which were thus obtained were analyzed by using the “Posture Analysis” software. The children were trained for
10 weeks (2.5 months) in such a way that there were 20 rest days and 47 training days. The duration of each
session was 1.5 hours. Drills were performed by using the dominant hand only by the children who belonged to
one­sided dribbling group and these drills were performed on both the sides by the children who belonged to

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