Biomaterial Database

Clinical measurement of head and shoulder posture variables. 1996

A L Harrison, and T Barry-Greb, and G Wojtowicz

Division of Physical Therapy, College of Allied Health Professions, University of Kentucky, Albert Chandler Medical Center, Lexington 40536-0079, USA.

A reliable method that is practical for clinical use for measuring head posture in standing has not been demonstrated in the literature. The purposes of this study were: 1) to produce a reliable method for measuring sagittal plane head and shoulder posture that is practical for clinical use and 2) to perform a pilot study to compare means between a nonpatient sample and a sample of people who have a history of recurring cervical pain. A method of measuring sagittal plane postural alignment of the head and shoulder in relationship to the lateral malleolus was developed using a carpenter's tri-square with a line level attached to the horizontal arm and a goniometer with a line level attached to the horizontal arm. Horizontal measures were taken with the tri-square from a vertical reference point to the tragus of the ear, to the shoulder axis, and to the lateral malleolus. Angular measures were taken with the goniometer of C7-tragus with the horizontal and tragus-corner of the eye with the horizontal. A reliability study was performed by two therapists with 15 non-patient subjects. Intraclass correlation coefficients measuring interrater reliability for horizontal and angular measures were as follows: 1) tragus to lateral malleolus: R = .87; 2) shoulder to lateral malleolus: R = .91;3) tragus to shoulder: R = .7;4) angle tragus-eye-horizon: R = .68; and 5) angle C7-tragus-horizon: R = .34. In the pilot study, 41 nonpatient subjects (11 males and 30 females, 20-45 years) and 10 patient subjects with cervical pain (one male and nine females, 23-43 years) were measured. Means calculated for horizontal distances (in cm) were: 1) tragus to lateral malleolus (nonpatients: 8.14; patients: 6.65);2) shoulder to lateral malleolus (nonpatients: 5.47; patients: 5.98); and 3) tragus to shoulder (nonpatients: 2.78; patients: .56). Means calculated for angular measures were: 1) tragus-eye-horizon (nonpatients: 18.78 degrees; patients: 21.57 degrees) and 2) C7-tragus-horizon (nonpatients: 49.34 degrees; patients: 49.43 degrees). No statistically significant differences were found between the two samples in this pilot study using an independent two-sample t test. This study demonstrates a reliable and practical method for taking postural measurements in the clinic and describes a pilot study for comparing a patient and a nonpatient sample.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D010865	Pilot Projects	Small-scale tests of methods and procedures to be used on a larger scale if the pilot study demonstrates that these methods and procedures can work.	Pilot Studies,Pilot Study,Pilot Project,Project, Pilot,Projects, Pilot,Studies, Pilot,Study, Pilot
D011187	Posture	The position or physical attitude of the body.	Postures
D005260	Female		Females
D006257	Head	The upper part of the human body, or the front or upper part of the body of an animal, typically separated from the rest of the body by a neck, and containing the brain, mouth, and sense organs.	Heads
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults
D012782	Shoulder	Part of the body in humans and primates where the arms connect to the trunk. The shoulder has five joints; ACROMIOCLAVICULAR joint, CORACOCLAVICULAR joint, GLENOHUMERAL joint, scapulathoracic joint, and STERNOCLAVICULAR joint.	Shoulders
D015588	Observer Variation	The failure by the observer to measure or identify a phenomenon accurately, which results in an error. Sources for this may be due to the observer's missing an abnormality, or to faulty technique resulting in incorrect test measurement, or to misinterpretation of the data. Two varieties are inter-observer variation (the amount observers vary from one another when reporting on the same material) and intra-observer variation (the amount one observer varies between observations when reporting more than once on the same material).	Bias, Observer,Interobserver Variation,Intraobserver Variation,Observer Bias,Inter-Observer Variability,Inter-Observer Variation,Interobserver Variability,Intra-Observer Variability,Intra-Observer Variation,Intraobserver Variability,Inter Observer Variability,Inter Observer Variation,Inter-Observer Variabilities,Inter-Observer Variations,Interobserver Variabilities,Interobserver Variations,Intra Observer Variability,Intra Observer Variation,Intra-Observer Variabilities,Intra-Observer Variations,Intraobserver Variabilities,Intraobserver Variations,Observer Variations,Variabilities, Inter-Observer,Variabilities, Interobserver,Variabilities, Intra-Observer,Variabilities, Intraobserver,Variability, Inter-Observer,Variability, Interobserver,Variability, Intra-Observer,Variability, Intraobserver,Variation, Inter-Observer,Variation, Interobserver,Variation, Intra-Observer,Variation, Intraobserver,Variation, Observer,Variations, Inter-Observer,Variations, Interobserver,Variations, Intra-Observer,Variations, Intraobserver,Variations, Observer