A modified sagittal spine postural classification and its relationship to deformities and spinal mobility in a chinese osteoporotic population.
BACKGROUND
Abnormal posture and spinal mobility have been demonstrated to cause functional impairment in the quality of life, especially in the postmenopausal osteoporotic population. Most of the literature studies focus on either thoracic kyphosis or lumbar lordosis, but not on the change of the entire spinal alignment. Very few articles reported the spinal alignment of Chinese people. The purpose of this study was threefold: to classify the spinal curvature based on the classification system defined by Satoh consisting of the entire spine alignment; to identify the change of trunk mobility; and to relate spinal curvature to balance disorder in a Chinese population.


RESULTS
450 osteoporotic volunteers were recruited for this study. Spinal range of motion and global curvature were evaluated noninvasively using the Spinal-Mouse® system and sagittal postural deformities were characterized.


RESULTS
We found a new spine postural alignment consisting of an increased thoracic kyphosis and decreased lumbar lordosis which we classified as our modified round back. We did not find any of Satoh's type 5 classification in our population. Type 2 sagittal alignment was the most common spinal deformity (38.44%). In standing, thoracic kyphosis angles in types 2 (58.34°) and 3 (58.03°) were the largest and lumbar lordosis angles in types 4 (13.95°) and 5 (-8.61°) were the smallest. The range of flexion (ROF) and range of flexion-extension (ROFE) of types 2 and 3 were usually greater than types 4 and 5, with type 1 being the largest.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study classified and compared for the first time the mobility, curvature and balance in a Chinese population based on the entire spine alignment and found types 4 and 5 to present the worst balance and mobility. This study included a new spine postural alignment classification that should be considered in future population studies.
Department of Orthopedics, School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
Hua-Jun
HJ
Wang
Hugo
H
Giambini
Wen-Jun
WJ
Zhang
Gan-Hu
GH
Ye
Chunfeng
C
Zhao
Kai-Nan
KN
An
Yi-Kai
YK
Li
Wen-Rui
WR
Lan
Jian-You
JY
Li
Xue-Sheng
XS
Jiang
Qiu-Lan
QL
Zou
Xiao-Ying
XY
Zhang
Chao
C
Chen
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D013121:Spinal Curvatures / Q000503:physiopathology