title: The influence of an external breast prosthesis on the posture of women after mastectomy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous literatures showed no evidence that wearing an external breast prosthesis may prevent changes in body posture in women who underwent mastectomy.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether the weight of an external breast prosthesis can contribute to posture changes in women post mastectomy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-one women with unilateral mastectomy (age 58 ± 11.39 years) were divided into 2 subgroups by their operation side. Asymmetry of body posture was evaluated by using the electromyography activity of erector spinae muscles with four different weights of breast prosthesis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Despite the operation side, the erector spinae muscle activities on the operation side and non-operation side were significantly different. Overall, for patients who had operation on the left side, their erector spinae muscle activity imbalance will be smaller, compared to the imbalance among patients with right operation side. The weight of the external breast prosthesis did not influence the differences of erector spinae muscle activities on the operation side and non-operation side.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The weight of an external breast prosthesis for women after mastectomy may not be crucial when choosing a proper prosthesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation, The Greater Poland Cancer Centre, Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hojan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Orthopedics and Traumatology, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Faustyna
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Manikowska
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Orthopedics and Traumatology, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Brian Po-Jung
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Management, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Ching-Ching
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008408:Mastectomy; D008875:Middle Aged; D064170:Paraspinal Muscles / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D019736:Prostheses and Implants
keywords: Breast cancer; electromyography; erector spinae muscle; postural asymmetry