title: Assessment of forward head posture in females: observational and photogrammetry methods.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There are different methods to assess forward head posture (FHP) but the accuracy and discrimination ability of these methods are not clear.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Here, we want to compare three postural angles for FHP assessment and also study the discrimination accuracy of three photogrammetric methods to differentiate groups categorized based on observational method.
  
  
  METHODS
  All Seventy-eight healthy female participants (23 ± 2.63 years), were classified into three groups: moderate-severe FHP, slight FHP and non FHP based on observational postural assessment rules. Applying three photogrammetric methods - craniovertebral angle, head title angle and head position angle - to measure FHP objectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One - way ANOVA test showed a significant difference in three categorized group's craniovertebral angle (P< 0.05, F=83.07). There was no dramatic difference in head tilt angle and head position angle methods in three groups. According to Linear Discriminate Analysis (LDA) results, the canonical discriminant function (Wilks'Lambda) was 0.311 for craniovertebral angle with 79.5% of cross-validated grouped cases correctly classified.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results showed that, craniovertebral angle method may discriminate the females with moderate-severe and non FHP more accurate than head position angle and head tilt angle. The photogrammetric method had excellent inter and intra rater reliability to assess the head and cervical posture.
authors: School of Rehabilitation Science, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Zahra
authors: Z
authors: Salahzadeh
authors: School of Rehabilitation Science, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Nader
authors: N
authors: Maroufi
authors: School of Rehabilitation Science, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Amir
authors: A
authors: Ahmadi
authors: School of Medical Science, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Hamid
authors: H
authors: Behtash
authors: Department of Civil Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA.
authors: Arash
authors: A
authors: Razmjoo
authors: School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Mahmoud
authors: M
authors: Gohari
authors: School of Mechanical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Mohamad
authors: M
authors: Parnianpour
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005260:Female; D006257:Head / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D009333:Neck / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D015588:Observer Variation; D010780:Photogrammetry / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011187:Posture; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Observational assessment; forward head posture; photogrammetry