Abstract
Objectives. The aim of the study was to assess the change of sagittal spinal curvatures in children with generalized joint hypermobility (GJH) instructed with “straighten your back” command (SYB). Methods. The study included 56 children with GJH. The control group consisted of 193 children. Sacral slope (SS), lumbar lordosis (LL), global thoracic kyphosis (TK), lower thoracic kyphosis (LK), and upper thoracic kyphosis (UK) were assessed with Saunders inclinometer both in spontaneous positions (standing and sitting) and after the SYB. Results. Children with GJH after SYB presented the following: in standing, increase in SS and decrease in TK, LK, and UK (P < 0.01), with LL not significantly changed; in sitting: decrease in global thoracic kyphosis (35.5° (SD 20.5) versus 21.0° (SD 15.5), P < 0.001) below the standards proposed in the literature (30–40°) and flattening of its lower part (P < 0.001). The same changes were observed in the control group. Conclusions. In children with generalized joint hypermobility, the “straighten your back” command leads to excessive reduction of the global thoracic kyphosis and flattening of its lower part. Therefore, the “straighten your back” command should not be used to achieve the optimal standing and sitting positions.
Highlights
Generalized joint hypermobility (GJH) is diagnosed when mobility of small and large joints is increased in relation to standard mobility for any given age, gender, and race and after excluding systemic diseases [1, 2]
No significant differences were found between the children from generalized joint hypermobility (GJH) group and control group in respect to age, height, weight, BMI, and the magnitude of sagittal spinal curvatures in a spontaneous standing and sitting position (Table 1)
A significant (P < 0.05) change in the magnitude of the most of the spinal parts was observed in children with GJH instructed with the “straighten your back” command
Summary
Generalized joint hypermobility (GJH) is diagnosed when mobility of small and large joints is increased in relation to standard mobility for any given age, gender, and race and after excluding systemic diseases [1, 2]. The occurrence of GJH ranges from 10 to 15% in boys and from 20 to 40% in girls [3]. While diagnosing body posture and subsequently planning the exercises, the possibility of it occurring is not usually taken into consideration and children are not differentiated in this respect [6]. It might arise from an insufficient level of physical therapists’ knowledge of how to deal with hypermobile children as well as a limited number of publications on joint hypermobility in physical therapy literature [7]. The reason may be the fact that the evaluation of musculoskeletal system based only on the examination of the flexibility of the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex muscles is not sufficient to recognize GJH [8]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
