Cervical and lumbar lordosis and thoracic kyphosis in 8, 11 and 15-year-old children.

Abstract

In a sample of 125 boys and girls registered at 8, 11 and 15 years of age the curvature of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine was studied. Cervical lordosis was calculated from the second, fourth and sixth vertebra on lateral skull radiographs. Thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis were measured using a kyphometer. The results showed a decrease in the cervical lordosis and an increase in thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis with increasing age in both sexes. In order to eliminate the systematic effects of sex and age a multiple stepwise regression analysis providing residuals corrected for the above mentioned variables was employed. When the entire sample was analysed again a highly significant correlation between thoracic and lumbar curvature was obtained. An almost significant, negative correlation was found between the inclination of the lower part of the cervical spine to a true vertical and the thoracic curvature. An almost significant correlation was also obtained between the inclination of the upper and lower part of the cervical spine to a true vertical, however no correlation was found between thoracic kyphosis and cervical lordosis. An almost significant, negative correlation was furthermore found between the upper part of the cervical spine and the lumbar spine.