The high prevalence of postural changes observed is reason for concern since these changes can translate into spinal problems in the medium to long term. Health professionals, including physical education teachers, should be trained to perform postural assessments, which should be routinely done in schools.

The BackPEI constitutes a valid and reproducible instrument which is relevant for the evaluation of back pain and its associated risk factors.

OBJECTIVE To identify the prevalence of back pain among Brazilian school children and the factors associated with this pain.METHODS All 1,720 schoolchildren from the fifth to the eight grade attending schools from the city of Teutonia, RS, Southern Brazil, were invited to participate in the study. From these, 1,597 children participated. We applied the Back Pain and Body Posture Evaluation Instrument. The dependent variable was back pain, while the independent one were demographic, socioeconomic, behavior and heredity data. The prevalence ratio was estimated by multivariate analysis using the Poisson regression model (α = 0.05).RESULTS The prevalence of back pain in the last three months was 55.7% (n = 802). The multivariate analysis showed that back pain is associated with the variables: sex, parents with back pain, weekly frequency of physical activity, daily time spent watching television, studying in bed, sitting posture to write and use the computer, and way of carrying the backpack.CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of back pain in schoolchildren is high and it is associated with demographic, behavior and heredity aspects.

Objective. to verify the validity and reproducibility of using the flexicurve to measure the angles of the thoracic and lumbar curvatures. Method. 47 subjects were evaluated by: (1) palpation and marking of the spinous processes using lead markers, (2) using X-rays in the sagittal plane to measure the Cobb angles, (3) molding the flexicurve to the spine, and (4) drawing the contour of the flexicurve onto graph paper. The angle of curvature was determined with the flexicurve based on a 3rd order polynomial. Results. No differences were found between the Cobb angles and the angles obtained using the flexicurve in thoracic and lumbar curvatures (P > 0.05). Correlations were strong and significant for the thoracic (r = 0.72, P < 0.01) and lumbar (r = 0.60, P < 0.01) curvatures. Excellent and significant correlations were found for both the intraevaluator and interevaluator measurements. Conclusion. The results show that there is no significant difference between the values obtained using the flexicurve and those obtained using the X-ray procedure and that there is a strong correlation between the two methods. This, together with the excellent level of inter- and intraevaluator reproducibility justifies its recommendation for use in clinical practice.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between behavioral risk factors, specifically postural habits, with the presence of structural changes in the spinal column of children and adolescents. METHODS: 59 students were evaluated through the self-reporting Back Pain and Body Posture Evaluation Instrument and spinal panoramic radiographic examination. Spine curvatures were classified based on Cobb angles, as normal or altered in the saggital plane and as normal or scoliotic in the frontal plane. Data were analyzed using SPSS 18.0, based on descriptive statistics and chi-square association test (a=0,05). RESULTS: The prevalence of postural changes was 79.7% (n=47), of which 47.5% (n=28) showed frontal plane changes and 61% (n=36) sagital plane changes. Significant association was found between the presence of thoracic kyphosis and female gender, practice of physical exercises only once or twice a week, sleep time greater than 10 hours, inadequate postures when sitting on a seat and sitting down to write, and how school supplies are carried. Lumbar lordosis was associated with the inadequate way of carrying the school backpack (asymmetric); and scoliosis was associated wuth the practice of competitive sports and sleep time greater than 10 hours. CONCLUSIONS: Lifestyle may be associated with postural changes. It is important to develop health policies in order to reduce the prevalence of postural changes, by decreasing the associated risk factors.

The results suggest that the DIPA protocol constitutes a valid simple, practical and low-cost non-invasive tool for the evaluation of the spine in the frontal plane which can be used to obtain reproducible measurements (inter and intra-evaluators).

The effective force applied on the crank, the index of pedalling effectiveness, and the economy of movement at 60, 75, 90, and 105 rev/min cadences were examined in nine cyclists and eight triathletes. Tests were performed on two days. Maximal oxygen uptake was measured and the second ventilatory threshold was estimated on day 1 using a stationary bicycle. On day 2, the four different cadences were tested at about 5% below the second ventilatory threshold. A strain gauge instrumented clip-less pedal mounted on the bicycle enabled us to measure the normal and tangential forces exerted on the pedal, while the pedal and crank angles were monitored with the aid of a video system. Based on this information, the effective force and the index of pedalling effectiveness were calculated. Cyclists produced significantly more effective force and a higher index of pedalling effectiveness at 60 and 75 rev/min and were significantly more economic at all cadences than triathletes. The significant and positive correlation between effective force and economy at all cadences suggests that improvement of the effective force would reflect on economy.

With photogrammetry, the aim of the assessment, whether it is for clinical, research or collective health purposes, must be considered when choosing which protocol to use to evaluate spinal posture.