Prevalence of faulty posture in children and youth from a rural region
in Iran

• Authors: Maghsoud Eivazi Gh , Amin Alilou , Solmaz Ghafurinia , Sara Fereydounnia
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Study aim: To assess the presence of musculoskeletal deformities in lower extremities and to detect faulty posture in
schoolchildren living in a rural region of Iran.Material and methods: 172 schoolchildren aged 5-20 years, including 66 boys and 106 girls were screened deviations
in the musculoskeletal system. Furthermore, the postural muscles including the hamstring and gastroc-soleus were
examined for finding any shortness.Results: The prevalence of cervical lordosis (22.6% vs. 6.1%), forward head posture (24.1% vs. 9.1%) and thoracic
kyphosis (27.8 % vs. 7.6%) was significantly higher in girls than in boys. The prevalence of cervical lordosis, FHP,
thoracic kyphosis, and genu varum increased with age; in the case of genu valgum, the situation was reversed. Genu
varum was almost twice as frequent in girls as in boys (44.4% vs. 25.8%; p<0.01), while the genu valgum was more
frequent (p<0.001) in boys than in girls (13.6 and 2.8, respectively). No significant age or gender-dependent differences
were found for hamstring shortness (29%), gastroc-soleus shortness (21%), genu recurvatum (22%), and hallux
valgus (31%).Conclusions: Faulty posture and lower limb deformities were highly prevalent in school children in this rural region.
More attention should be paid to implementing school-based screening programs aimed at early detection of any
musculoskeletal-related abnormalities and taking preventive steps to reduce their negative consequences.

Keywords

EN

Faulty Posture; Children; Visual assessment

• Publisher: Versita
• Journal: Biomedical Human Kinetics
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 4
• Pages: 121-126

Dates

accepted

14 - 11 - 2012

online

28 - 12 - 2012

received

6 - 7 - 2012

Contributors

author

Maghsoud Eivazi Gh

• Physiotherapy Department, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran
• Physiotherapy & Rehabilitation Department, Okan University, Tuzla Kampusu Istanbul, Turkey

author

Amin Alilou

• Physiotherapy Department, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran

author

Solmaz Ghafurinia

• Physiotherapy Department, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran

author

Sara Fereydounnia

• Physiotherapy
  Department, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran

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Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/v10101-012-0023-z