Development of a cost effective three-dimensional posture analysis tool : validity and reliability
Date
2013-12
Authors
Brink, Yolandi
Louw, Quinette
Grimmer, Karen
Schreve, Kristiaan
Van der Westhuizen, Gareth
Jordaan, Esme
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BioMed Central
Abstract
Background: The lack of clear understanding of the association between sitting posture and adolescent
musculoskeletal pain, might reflect invalid and/or unreliable posture measurement instruments. The psychometric properties of any new measurement instrument should be demonstrated prior to use for research or clinical purposes. This paper describes psychometric testing of a new three-dimensional (3D), portable, non-invasive posture analysis tool (3D-PAT), from sequential studies using a mannequin and high school students.
Methods: The first study compared the 3D-(X-, Y- and Z-) coordinates of reflective markers placed on a mannequin using the 3D-PAT, and the Vicon motion analysis system. This study also tested the reliability of taking repeated measures of the 3D-coordinates of the reflective markers. The second study determined the concurrent validity and test-retest reliability of the 3D-PAT measurements of nine sitting postural angles of high school students undertaking a standard computing task. In both studies, concordance correlation coefficients and Intraclass correlation coefficients described test-retest reliability, whilst Pearson product moment correlation coefficients and Bland-Altman plots demonstrated concurrent validity.
Results: The 3D-PAT provides reliable and valid 3D measurements of five of the nine postural angles i.e. head
flexion, neck flexion, cranio-cervical angle, trunk flexion and head lateral bending in adolescents undertaking a
standard task.
Conclusions: The 3D-PAT is appropriate for research and clinical settings to measure five upper quadrant postural
angles in three dimensions. As a measurement instrument it can provide further understanding of the relationship between sitting posture, changes to sitting posture and adolescent musculoskeletal pain.
Description
Publication of this article was funded by the Stellenbosch University Open Access Fund.
The original publication is available at http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2474/14/335
CITATION: Brink, Y. et al. 2013. Development of a cost effective three-dimensional posture analysis tool: validity and reliability. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 14:335, doi:10.1186/1471-2474-14-335.
The original publication is available at http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2474/14/335
CITATION: Brink, Y. et al. 2013. Development of a cost effective three-dimensional posture analysis tool: validity and reliability. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 14:335, doi:10.1186/1471-2474-14-335.
Keywords
Posture, Posture disorders
Citation
Brink, Y. et al. 2013. Development of a cost effective three-dimensional posture analysis tool: validity and reliability. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 14:335, doi:10.1186/1471-2474-14-335.