Spinal posture and pelvic position in three hundred forty-five elementary school children: a rasterstereographic pilot study

Abstract

Children's posture has been of growing concern due to observations that it seems to be impaired compared to previous generations. So far there is no reference data for spinal posture and pelvic position in healthy children available. Purpose of this pilot study was to determine rasterstereographic posture values in children during their second growth phase. Three hundred and forty-five pupils were measured with a rasterstereographic device in a neutral standing position with hanging arms. To further analyse for changes in spinal posture during growth, the children were divided into 12-month age clusters. A mean kyphotic angle of 47.1°±7.5 and a mean lordotic angle of 42.1°±9.9 were measured. Trunk imbalance in girls (5.85 mm±0.74) and boys (7.48 mm± 0.83) varied only little between the age groups, with boys showing slightly higher values than girls. The trunk inclination did not show any significant differences between the age groups in boys or girls. Girls' inclination was 2.53°±1.96 with a tendency to decreasing angles by age, therefore slightly smaller compared to boys (2.98°±2.18). Lateral deviation (4.8 mm) and pelvic position (tilt: 2.75 mm; torsion: 1.53°; inclination: 19.8°±19.8) were comparable for all age groups and genders. This study provides the first systematic rasterstereographic analysis of spinal posture in children between 6 and 11 years. With the method of rasterstereography a reliable three-dimensional analysis of spinal posture and pelvic position is possible. Spinal posture and pelvic position does not change significantly with increasing age in this collective of children during the second growth phase.

Refining the Reference Values of Diers 4D Formetric System and Introducing a Qualitative Spine Profile Based on Percentile Ranking

“…The absence of influence of age on spine curvatures is in agreement with results published by others [13] [14] in adults, and in children [15]. In contrast, Youdas et al [16] reported an effect of age on standing lumbar curvatures in persons between 20 and 79 years of age, but this effect was only significant when comparing the age group of 20 to 29 years with the age group of 50 to 59 years.…”

Effects of Athletic Training on the Spinal Curvature in Child Athletes

“…Rasterstereography, a spine and surface topography technique, can be used to measure such changes in children. In a previous rasterstereographic study of 345 children between 8 and 11 years, a mean kyphotic angle of 47.1°± 7.5 and a mean lordotic angle of 42.1°± 9.9 was found (Furian, Rapp, Eckert, Wild, & Betsch, 2013).…”

Analysis of the relationship between body posture and postural stability in girls aged 10–12 years

“…Body posture was assessed using the Diers Formetric III 4D optoelectronic method. The method allows photogrammetric video registration of the back surface using a raster stereography process [9][10][11]. Based on the obtained data, a precise three-dimensional model of the back surface was created [12].…”