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Evaluation of forward head posture in sitting and standing positions

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A Correction to this article was published on 16 July 2021

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Abstract

Purpose

Head postural assessment is part of the orthopaedic physical examination process and could help to identify faulty head postures. One of the most common faulty postures of the craniocervical region is the forward head posture (FHP). There are several methods to evaluate FHP but it is not clear which method is more precise. The aim of this study was to compare the craniovertebral angle (CVA) between a FHP and a healthy group in sitting and standing positions.

Methods

Twenty-five subjects with FHP (22.9 ± 2 years) and 25 normal subjects (21.9 ± 5 years) participated in this case–control study. Photography of the sagittal view was done in standing and relaxed sitting postures to determine the amount of the FHP.

Results

The results of independent t test showed a significant difference in the CVA between the FHP and healthy groups (P < 0.001). The result of paired t test showed a significant difference between CVA in standing and sitting postures for both groups (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the BMI had a significant negative correlation with CVA in standing position (P < 0.01).

Conclusions

Our results indicated that the CVA was increased in the sitting posture compared to the standing posture and introduced the standing posture as a more sensitive posture to evaluate the FHP.

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Acknowledgments

The findings of this article were part of a MSc. thesis which was financially supported by Iran University of Medical Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiotherapy, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    B. Shaghayeghfard, Amir Ahmadi, N. Maroufi & J. Sarrafzadeh

  2. Iranian Center of Excellence in Physiotherapy, Tehran, Iran

    Amir Ahmadi

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  1. B. Shaghayeghfard
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  2. Amir Ahmadi
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  3. N. Maroufi
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  4. J. Sarrafzadeh
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Correspondence to Amir Ahmadi.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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The original online version of this article was revised to read the first author name as B. Shaghayeghfard.

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Shaghayeghfard, B., Ahmadi, A., Maroufi, N. et al. Evaluation of forward head posture in sitting and standing positions. Eur Spine J 25, 3577–3582 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-015-4254-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-015-4254-x

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