Prevalence of forward head posture among 12-16 year old school going students - A cross sectional study

Introduction: Posture is attitude of the body, the relative arrangement of body parts for a specific activity, or a characteristic manner of bearing one’s body. Forward Head Posture(FHP) is characterized by increased flexion of lower cervical spine and upper thoracic region, increased extension of upper cervical vertebrae which also leads to changes in lumbar spine. Bad posture of children is a serious health disorder, which often leads to a permanent reduction of capability and neck pain in adolescence and adulthood. Poor posture is an important aspect which needs to be addressed as children are developing incorrect posture as a result of heavy backpacks, bad ergonomics while studying and also excessive mobile usage. FHP is a measure of poor posture of neck, so this study was conducted to find the prevalence of forward head posture among 12-16 years old school going students. Methodology: 300 school going children of age group 12 -16 years were included in this cross-sectional survey study. After obtaining a voluntary signed consent the neck was exposed and coloured markers were placed on C7 vertebrae and the tragus of the ear. A photograph was taken from the distance of 1.5 meters in sagittal plane at the height of shoulder level. Each image was then analysed to calculate the craniovertebral angle which is used to measure forward head posture by using Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. Results: In all 300 students were screened from which 158 were males and out of them 88 males (56%) had FHP and101 females (71%) had FHP from 142 evaluated. Mean Craniovertebral angle was found to be 42.9+7.43 degrees. Out of 300 students evaluated 189 were found to have FHP. The odds of female students having FHP was 1.9 times more as compared to males. Conclusion: The study revealed a prevalence of 63% of FHP among 12-16 years old school going students. The prevalence of FHP provides data for diagnosis and implies the need for prevention and treatment which will reduce the cases of neck pain. Moreover, awareness of correct posture should be spread for ergonomic modification and correct posture. Keywords : Forward head posture, cranio-vertebral angle, ergonomics