Posture: Assessment and Clinical Indications for Physiotherapists - Prof. Zamora, Apuntes de Rehabilitación

Posture

Posture

is the alignment and positioning of the body in relation to gravity, center of mass, or base of support.

The physical therapist uses tests and measures to assess an individual's structural alignment. Optimal posture is

a state of musculoskeletal balance and skeletal alignment that may protect the individual against injury or

progressive deformity. Responses monitored at rest, during activity, and after activity may indicate the presence

or severity of an impairment, activity limitation, or participation restriction.

Fitness, including physical performance (eg, di†culty running, swimming, skiing, or biking due to

postural abnormalities)

Health and wellness (eg, inadequate understanding of the impact of posture on functional

activities)

Pathology or health condition

Cardiovascular (eg, stroke)

Genitourinary (eg, pelvic တoor dysfunction, pregnancy)

Musculoskeletal (eg, amputation, intervertebral disk disorders, joint replacement, scoliosis)

Neuromuscular (eg, cerebral palsy [CP], neuroတbromatosis, spina biတda)

Pulmonary (eg, pneumonectomy, restrictive lung disease)

Ventilation (eg, limited or asymmetrical thoracic expansion)

Activity limitations and participation restrictions

Self-care (eg, di†culty with donning and do†ng shoes and socks due to limited and painful

spinal ROM)

Domestic life (eg, inability to do laundry due to dyspnea)

Education or work life (eg, inability to sit at a computer workstation due to painful head and neck

postures)

Community, social, and civic life (eg, inability to drive due to painful sitting posture)

Examples of What Tests and Measures May Characterize or Quantify:

Postural alignment and position (static and dynamic), including symmetry and deviation from