Correlation between rounded shoulder posture, neck disability indices, and degree of forward head posture.
Eun-Kyung Kim, Jin Seop Kim
PMID 27821964WHAT IT FOUND
In healthy college students, a more forward head posture was significantly linked to greater neck disability, but not to rounded shoulder posture.
This suggests neck pain may stem from head position itself rather than accompanying shoulder rounding in this group.
Key findings
01A significant negative correlation was found between the craniovertebral angle (CVA) and neck disability index (NDI) scores in both standing and sitting positions.
02No significant correlation was detected between the craniovertebral angle (CVA) and rounded shoulder posture (RSP) in either position.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study population consisted of healthy college students with mild neck disability, so results may not apply to patients with severe pain or existing spinal pathology. Rounded shoulder posture was measured in a supine position using a vernier caliper, which the authors note is typically used for measuring pectoralis minor length and may not accurately reflect spinal bending or scapular position changes caused by forward head posture. The cross-sectional design cannot prove that forward head posture causes neck pain; it only shows a correlation. The study did not find a specific threshold of CVA decrease that leads to RSP, limiting its utility for predicting shoulder deformity from head position.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that rounded shoulder posture is irrelevant to neck pain generally. This study found no correlation between forward head posture and rounded shoulders in a specific group of healthy young adults with mild symptoms, but it does not rule out the role of shoulder posture in other populations or more severe cases.