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Review
. 2023 Sep 1;8(9):708-718.
doi: 10.1530/EOR-23-0025.

Spinal posture assessment and low back pain

Shu-Hao Du  1   2 , Yong-Hui Zhang  1 , Qi-Hao Yang  1 , Yu-Chen Wang  1 , Yu Fang  2 , Xue-Qiang Wang  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Spinal posture assessment and low back pain

Shu-Hao Du et al. EFORT Open Rev. .

Abstract

Postural assessment can help doctors and therapists identify risk factors for low back pain and determine appropriate follow-up treatment. Postural alignment is not perfectly symmetrical, and small asymmetries can instead represent norms and criteria for postural evaluation. It is necessary to comprehensively observe patients' posture in all directions and analyze the factors related to posture evaluation. The results of reliability show that in general intra-rater reliability is higher than inter-rater reliability, and inclinometers are being more reliable than other instrumentations. Some common postural problems can cause lumbar discomfort, and prolonged poor posture is a potential risk factor for lumbar spine injuries. On the basis of previous studies on posture evaluation, a unified standardized method for posture evaluation must be established in future research.

Keywords: low back pain; posture assessment; reliability; spinal posture.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research reported.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The anterior view of body.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The lateral view of body.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The posterior view of body.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Common bad posture.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Lordosis.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Sway-back.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Round back/kyphosis.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Flat back.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Scoliosis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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