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A clinical postural model of sagittal alignment in young adolescents before age at peak height velocity

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Abstract

Introduction

From a clinical point of view, knowledge of customary standing positions among healthy young adolescents is of primary importance. The purpose of this study was to document the correlations between sagittal standing posture parameters in a pre-peak height velocity (pre-PHV) cohort.

Materials and methods

This cohort study included 639 pre-PHV boys (age 12.6 [SD, 0.54] years) and 557 pre-PHV girls (age 10.6 [SD, 0.47] years). Gross body segment orientations and spinopelvic orientation/shape indexes were quantified using a clinical screening protocol. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were determined for all sagittal standing plane alignment parameters, and a postural model was used to analyze the correlations between parameters.

Results

Both at the gross body segment and spinopelvic level, an interdependence was found between postural parameters. No correlations were observed between ‘global’ parameters related to the pelvis, trunk or body anteroposterior translation postures and ‘local’ spinopelvic geometries. A similar pattern and strength of correlations was obtained in pre-PHV boys and girls, except for the reciprocal relationships between the craniovertebral angle and adjacent anatomic segment characteristics and between thoraco-lumbar geometries.

Conclusions

Although the correlation schemes do not imply a causal relationship, the proposed postural model allows conjecture about standing posture to be organized slightly differently in pre-PHV boys and girls. Whereas the standing posture in pre-PHV boys might be organized predominantly according to an ascending mode, bottom-up and top-down organizations appear to coexist in pre-PHV girls.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all the participants and their parents to take part in this study. Thanks are also due to the staff members of schools and pupil guidance centers for their collaboration in the acquisition of the data and for the use of their facilities during the investigation.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The authors had full control of all primary data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Artevelde University College, Campus Heymans (3B3), De Pintelaan 185, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Mieke Dolphens, Barbara Cagnie, Andry Vleeming, Guy Vanderstraeten & Lieven Danneels

  2. Department of Anatomy, Medical Faculty, University of New England, Biddeford Campus, 11 Hills Beach Road, Biddeford Maine, ME, 04005, USA

    Andry Vleeming

  3. Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Campus Heymans (1P5), De Pintelaan 185, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Guy Vanderstraeten

  4. Department of Public Health and Research in Advanced Medical Informatics and Telematics, Ghent University, c/o Business Complex Groeninghe (Building F), Zwijnaardsesteenweg 314, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Pascal Coorevits

Authors
  1. Mieke Dolphens
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  2. Barbara Cagnie
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  3. Andry Vleeming
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  4. Guy Vanderstraeten
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  5. Pascal Coorevits
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  6. Lieven Danneels
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mieke Dolphens.

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Dolphens, M., Cagnie, B., Vleeming, A. et al. A clinical postural model of sagittal alignment in young adolescents before age at peak height velocity. Eur Spine J 21, 2188–2197 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-012-2416-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-012-2416-7

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