The spinal posture of computing adolescents in a real-life setting

Brink, Yolandi; Louw, Quinette; Grimmer, Karen; Jordaan, Esme

The spinal posture of computing adolescents in a real-life setting

dc.contributor.author	Brink, Yolandi	en_ZA
dc.contributor.author	Louw, Quinette	en_ZA
dc.contributor.author	Grimmer, Karen	en_ZA
dc.contributor.author	Jordaan, Esme	en_ZA
dc.date.accessioned	2014-09-17T08:04:49Z
dc.date.available	2014-09-17T08:04:49Z
dc.date.issued	2014-06
dc.date.updated	2014-07-11T23:04:34Z
dc.description	CITATION: Brink, Y., Louw, Q., Grimmer, K. & Jordaan, E. 2014. The spinal posture of computing adolescents in a real-life setting. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 15(1):212, doi:10.1186/1471-2474-15-212.	en_ZA
dc.description	The original publication is available at http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2474/15/212	en_ZA
dc.description	Publication of this article was funded by the Stellenbosch University Open Access Fund.
dc.description.abstract	Background: It is assumed that good postural alignment is associated with the less likelihood of musculoskeletal pain symptoms. Encouraging good sitting postures have not reported consequent musculoskeletal pain reduction in school-based populations, possibly due to a lack of clear understanding of good posture. Therefore this paper describes the variability of postural angles in a cohort of asymptomatic high-school students whilst working on desk-top computers in a school computer classroom and to report on the relationship between the postural angles and age, gender, height, weight and computer use. Methods: The baseline data from a 12 month longitudinal study is reported. The study was conducted in South African school computer classrooms. 194 Grade 10 high-school students, from randomly selected high-schools, aged 15–17 years, enrolled in Computer Application Technology for the first time, asymptomatic during the preceding month, and from whom written informed consent were obtained, participated in the study. The 3D Posture Analysis Tool captured five postural angles (head flexion, neck flexion, cranio-cervical angle, trunk flexion and head lateral bend) while the students were working on desk-top computers. Height, weight and computer use were also measured. Individual and combinations of postural angles were analysed. Results: 944 Students were screened for eligibility of which the data of 194 students are reported. Trunk flexion was the most variable angle. Increased neck flexion and the combination of increased head flexion, neck flexion and trunk flexion were significantly associated with increased weight and BMI (p = 0.0001). Conclusions: High-school students sit with greater ranges of trunk flexion (leaning forward or reclining) when using the classroom computer. Increased weight is significantly associated with increased sagittal plane postural angles.	en_ZA
dc.description.version	Publishers' version	en_ZA
dc.format.extent	9 pages : illustrations
dc.identifier.citation	Brink, Y., Louw, Q., Grimmer, K. & Jordaan, E. 2014. The spinal posture of computing adolescents in a real-life setting. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 15(1):212, doi:10.1186/1471-2474-15-212.	en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn	1471-2474 (online)
dc.identifier.other	doi:10.1186/1471-2474-15-212
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/95571
dc.language.iso	en_ZA	en_ZA
dc.publisher	BioMed Central	en_ZA
dc.rights.holder	Yolandi Brink et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.	en_ZA
dc.subject	Microcomputer workstations -- Health aspects	en_ZA
dc.subject	Human engineering	en_ZA
dc.subject	Musculoskeletal system -- Wounds an injuries -- Prevention	en_ZA
dc.subject	Posture -- Physiological aspects	en_ZA
dc.subject	Posture disorders in children	en_ZA
dc.subject	Sitting position -- Health aspects	en_ZA
dc.subject	High school students	en_ZA
dc.title	The spinal posture of computing adolescents in a real-life setting	en_ZA
dc.type	Article	en_ZA