Thesis (M.Phil.) - University of Queensland, 2007. / Includes bibliography.

The special problem which the writer chose was the study of the most prevalent postural defects of two hundred fourteen school children at Pershing Elementary School, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and to prepare and to administer a program of corrective exercises, and further to determine the progress made by the children after the application of the corrective program for the school years 1946-47 through 1947-48.

What is the ideal human upright posture? Where did it come from, how did it develop, what is its significance, how is it measured? What are the cause and effect of malposture? Much has been published on the role of posture in physical as well as mental and emotional states of the individual. This study was undertaken to investigate these issues, while at the same time aiming to find the position and role of posture in the physical and psychological context of human life. The first aspect of posture investigated was its definition. What constitutes good posture is still a debated issue. The conclusion drawn was that good posture represents the state of balance in an individual at rest and during motion. Ideally this state should be achieved with all the body parts aligned on top of each other requiring minimal effort and energy expenditure. The evolutionary origin of the upright posture in man was traced in order to come to a clearer understanding of the anatomical, biomechanical and physiological mechanisms involved in posture. The positions and functions of some muscles and bones have remained, and some have changed during the development of the upright human from its quadrupedal ancestors. Maintenance of balanced posture depends mainly on the coordinated action of the stabilizing mono-articulated muscles, and their place and purpose in upright man were viewed in the light of their origins. By so doing one is able to uncover their intended use and to identify misuse of these muscles. Development throughout childhood mimics the evolutionary process. A series of postural exercises was described, which follows the childhood/evolutionary pattern, and have proven to be successful in postural rehabilitation and body¬mind integration. In order to understand the concept of the upright standing posture, control mechanisms responsible for maintaining upright posture were reviewed. These included the sensory and the neuromusculo-skeletal systems. This was duly undertaken in accordance with existing literature, it was concluded that posture is controlled in association with all human functions. Following the concept that posture affects the mind and emotions, the work and theories of prominent researchers in the body-mind and postural integration field such as Frederick Alexander, Raymond Dart, Moshe Feldenkrais, Alexander Lowen, Wilhelm Reich and Ida Rolf were reviewed and distilled. This led to evidence that treatment of the body has an effect on the mind, that structure influences function and that postural equilibrium has a beneficial influence on both mind and body. According to numerous workers malposture in man is pandemic. Ensuing literature and empirical research on total body posture, and the position of each area of the body, from the head to the feet, revealed divergent causes of this problem as well as effects of malposture, including negative self-image, psycholological problems, pain, fatigue and the inability to achieve the full human potential. Although there is no obvious cause of postural imbalance, there are many ways of preventing or rectifying the disorder. During the course of a postural rehabilitation therapy, there is a good chance of uncovering the underlying cause of the postural imbalance. This can be as deep seated as a personality disorder or as clear as the fear of an old sport injury. The incidence and extent of postural defects were investigated in two small groups of subjects with the aim to determine the range of postural deviations, and the body areas most commonly affected. All subjects studied, leaned forward with the gravity line anterior to the ankle joint. Postural defects were prevalent in all subjects. Most of the subjects were categorized as having severe postural defects or gross deformity. Postural asymmetry and kyphosis were the most common defects. The conclusions drawn from these studies were that most people, in any age group, suffer from some type of postural defect, supporting the general consensus that malposture is a pandemic condition. The effects of postural rehabilitation were also investigated. Postures improved in all the subjects over a period of twelve weeks, with a more vertical body alignment the most obvious change. Postural rehabilitation has physical and psychological consequences. This was demonstrated by improvement in posture and increased body awareness, a decrease in the tendency to become fatigued, an decrease in back and neck stiffness and improvement in mental attitudes. Postural training in general could therefore be profitable for both body and mind, and an appreciation of good posture and its resulting efficiency represents the best kind of preventative medicine. Postural training should have a place in both Education and Health. / Thesis (D Phil (HMS))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Arts, Languages and Human Movement Studies Education / Unrestricted

Submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Masters’ Degree in Technology: Chiropractic, Department of Chiropractic, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / Research has shown that more than 90% of the scholars, use backpacks, worldwide. The backpack has the ability to transport books, sports equipment and clothing between school and home, climaxing in a capacity that may affect posture. Therefore, it is noted that a backpack, which is not carried correctly, fitted improperly and/or over packed may pose a threat to the scholar’s posture Aim: To determine the effect between a novel and school-issued backpack in terms of postural symmetry measurements (photographic measurements), when compared to no backpack, on high school adolescent standing posture. Method: This research was a quantitative descriptive cross sectional experimental design. Each participating scholar underwent a BMI, height and weight screening, prior to inclusion into the data collection process. One hundred asymptomatic scholars, aged between 12 to 14 years, were recruited using convenience sampling. Thereafter, digital photographic images of each scholar was taken in 3 groups, i.e. no Backpack, with a school-issued backpack (Backpack A) and a novel backpack (Backpack B). These digital photographic images were then uploaded, by the researcher, onto the Posturepro 8 Computer Postural Software System. The objective measurement tool (Posturepro 8 Computer Postural Software System) calculated, in degrees, the postural measurements of the scholars’ neck, shoulder and pelvis, by manually constructing lines (horizontal and vertical) between the anatomical landmarks (bilaterally). IBM SPSS version 21 was used to analyse the data. A two-tailed p value of <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Parametric summary statistics such as mean and standard deviations were used to describe the outcomes in each group. Postural measurements were compared between the pairs (i.e. no Backpack versus Backpack A, no Backpack versus Backpack B and Backpack A versus Backpack B) using paired sample t-tests. A one sample t-test was used to compare the symmetry measurements to a null hypothesis value of 0. Results: The mean age of the one hundred scholars was 13.5 (± 0.6 SD) years. The age of the scholars ranged between 12 and 14 years. This research was performed to determine which backpack (A or B) performed better in maintaining the scholar’s posture (with no backpack). A direct comparison was performed with no Backpack to that of Backpack A and Backpack B. The comparison for each of the differences closest to zero (‘0’) in the no Backpack, Backpack A and Backpack B groups was performed using a one sample t-test. The values closer to zero (‘0’) indicated a normal postural symmetry. None of the postural symmetry measurements were significantly different from zero in all 3 groups as the mean differences were very close to zero. Therefore, when comparing Backpack A to Backpack B, this research showed that there was no significant differences between the two backpacks when looking at postural symmetry (p=0.05). Conclusion: The trends observed in this study partly supported the claims by the company (‘Improved Postural Alignment for You’) of the novel backpack. The novel backpack (Backpack B) showed significant differences in some instances when assessing other outcome measurements, but showed no significant difference when comparing postural symmetry between the two backpacks. Further studies need to be done incorporating all aspects of postural analysis, and not just postural symmetry measurements.

Thesis (MScPhysio (Physiotherapy))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Objective The objective of this study was to establish the reliability and validity of a Portable Posture Analysis Method (PPAM). Design The design for the reliability section was a repeated measures observational study and the design for the validity section was a correlation study. Background The prevalence of spinal pain among high school learners is high (Murphy et al, 2002). It is also notable that the prevalence of back pain increases across the teenage years (Grimmer & Williams 2000, Burton et al 1996). In South Africa, the preliminary findings of a study conducted by a Physiotherapy masters candidate (Ms L Smith: ethics nr. N05/09/164) indicates that about 74% of high school learners in Cape Town complained of musculoskeletal pain. Posture has been identified by some researchers to be a primary predictor of the development of spinal, particularly upper quadrant pain among computer users (NIOSH 1997, Vieira et al 2004). Measurement of posture poses a real challenge to researchers wanting to accurately evaluate posture in research projects. Considering the practical implications in measuring posture, the validity and reliability of posture measurement are often reported to be poor. Many of these methods of indirect assessment of working posture have been reported on in the literature. These measures include; the goniometer, inclinometer, flexible electrogoniometer, flexicurve and photography (Harrison et al 2005, Christensen 1999, Nitschke et al 1999, Chen & Lee 1997). ...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 199-216). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (Sc. D.)--Louisiana Tech University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 246-257).

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2004. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-119). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.