Affiliations: [a] Institute of Physiotherapy, Rzeszow University, Rzeszow, Poland | [b] Centre for Innovative Research in Medical and Natural Sciences, Medical Faculty of University of Rzeszow, Rzeszow, Poland
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: J. Drzał-Grabiec, Institute of Physiotherapy, University of Rzeszow, 26 Warszawska Str., 35-205 Rzeszow, Poland. Tel.: +48 691 588 185; Fax: +48 178 721 942; E-mail: justyna.drzal.grabiec@wp.pl.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Systematic observations of fetal posture show that, although for most of the time the fetus does not have a preferred posture, it has a certain repertoire of repeated active postures. The observed postures cannot be considered random configurations of head and limb position: the fetus and the young infant have an active, but variable posture that is relatively unrelated to the orientation of the force of gravity. MATERIALS AND METHOD: The study included 101 children, aged 6–7, including 50 preterm children, 48 boys and 53 girls (research group) and 51 full-term children; 22 boys and 53 girls (control group). The photogrammetric method with moire effect on Mora 4G CQ Elektronik was used to examine the body posture. RESULTS: Significant statistical differences in GAMMA (p< 0.001) and KLL (p= 0.020) parameters in preterm children and in control group were noted. Both parameters presented higher value in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: The posture of preterm children is characterized by a smaller angle of upper thoracic curvature and smaller angle of lumbar lordosis. The posture of preterm children in sitting position is characterized by a smaller angle of thoracic kyphosis. Preterm birth disturbs the development of proper antigravitational mechanism and causes possible posture dysfunctions at the age of 6.
Keywords: Body posture, spine, photogrammetric method, preterm infant
