Abstract

MARTINEZ MARINZ, Rocío del Pilar  and  ANGARITA FONSECA, Adriana. Postural impairments in schoolchildren from 8 to 12 years old in a public high school in 2010. Univ. Salud [online]. 2013, vol.15, n.1, pp.22-33. ISSN 0124-7107.

Objective: To identify postural deficiencies, muscle contractures, shortened legs and foot type in schoolchildren from 8 to 12 years old in a public school. Methodology: A descriptive transversal study was conducted in 35 students (9.5 ± 0.9 years), from which 80% were male. The postural orthostatic evaluation was performed in the sagittal and frontal plane. The variables analyzed were: deficiencies in knee, pelvis, abdominals, lumbar, cervical and thoracic spine, scapula, shoulder and head. Schober, Wells, Thomas, extensibility of column and hip adductors tests were applied. The foot type was assessed by the Hernandez Corvo method footprint. The statistical analysis included measures of central tendency and dispersion for quantitative variables, and absolute and relative frequencies for qualitative variables. Results: The main postural impairments were dropped right shoulder (85.7% in girls), dropped left shoulder (57.1% in boys) and abdominal protrusion (100% in girls and 82.1% in boys). Retractions were found mainly in adductor muscle (100%), as well as right cavus foot and left cavus foot with 25.7% and 28.6%, and right flat foot and left flat foot with 14.3% and 22,8 % respectively. Discussion: Despite the young age, children evaluated showed different postural deficiencies, so it is recommended to have a postural hygiene education.

Keywords : Evaluation; posture; schoolchildren.

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