Postural Analysis of The Trunk, Pelvic Girdle and Lower Extremities in The Sagittal Plane in People with and without Forward Head Posture

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Background. Forward head posture (FHP) is a poor habitual posture of the head and neck. Because of the biomechanical relationship of body segments, posture of cervical spine may influence the posture of the pelvic and lower limb. The objective of this study was to compare the static posture of the trunk, pelvic and lower limb in the sagittal plane in subjects with FHP and without FHP. Methods. In this cross-sectional study, the static posture of 82 university students with the FHP (age: 23 ± 2) and 80 students without the FHP (age: 23 ± 2) has been analyzed with photogrammetry technique. Posture of the neck, trunk, pelvic and lower limb has been measured using craniovertebral angle, horizontal alignment of the pelvis, vertical alignment of the torso, and vertical and sagittal alignments of the body, lower limb angle, hip joint angle, ankle joint angle respectively. The inter- and intra-rater reliability of all postural and correlation of postural angles and the FHP was computed. Results. The ankle joint angle, vertical alignment of the torso, and vertical alignment of the body were different between two groups (p < 0.05). There were significant rela-tionships between FHP severity and the ankle joint angle (r: – 0.17), vertical alignment of the torso (r: – 0.19), and vertical alignment of the body values (r: 0.16). Conclusions. The trunk and lower limb postures were different between groups of the subjects with and without the FHP. The evaluation of the truck and lower limb in subjects with the FHP may help the management of the FHP.