Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Decrease of physiological curvatures of the spine can lead to back pain.
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this study was to compare the curvatures of the spine and body posture parameters in three positions: relaxed standing, relaxed sitting, corrected sitting.
METHODS:
The study included 40 healthy persons aged 18-32 years(mean 24.7 ± 2.3), with body height 152-195 cm (mean 171.8 ± 9.3), weight 47-115 kg (mean 66.4 ± 13.7), BMI 17.9-32.5 kg/m2 (mean 22.3 ± 3.0). The study was performed using the photogrammetric method.
RESULTS:
After changing the position from relaxed standing to relaxed sitting, significant decrease of the inclination of the thoracolumbar region, the thoracic kyphosis depth and the lumbar lordosis depth were observed. Lumbar lordosis angle increased significantly. After the sitting position correction, the inclination of the upper thoracic and thoracolumbar region decreased, and the depth of thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis increased.
CONCLUSIONS:
- In the relaxed sitting position, the lumbar lordosis was significantly smaller than in the standing position. - A change from the standing to the sitting position results in flattening of thoracic kyphosis. - The corrected sitting position does not adequately correct the spinal curvatures.