Quantitative evaluation of subjective posture recognition by physiotherapists using a 3D motion capture.
Masumi Shingai, Ren Niijima, Yuto Kobayashi and 3 others
PMID 32884172WHAT IT FOUND
Physiotherapists' subjective 'good' and 'bad' sitting postures showed distinct spinal displacement patterns, but their 'normal' posture did not align clearly with either.
This suggests clinicians may default to comfortable, potentially poor postures rather than recognized good ones.
Key findings
01Significant backward displacement of the upper back (Th10) and forward displacement of the chest occurred when moving from good to bad posture.
02The 'normal' posture did not show significant association with either the 'good' or 'bad' posture.
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
Small sample size of only 12 experienced physiotherapists. Participants were all Japanese adults with no orthopedic conditions. The definitions of 'good', 'normal', and 'bad' were entirely subjective. The study did not measure pain or discomfort, only displacement.
Declared interests
No specific grant funding. Authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that a patient's comfortable 'normal' sitting posture is objectively good. The study found that self-defined normal postures did not align with good postures, suggesting comfort may not equal optimal spinal alignment.