Prevalence of Head and Shoulder Abnormalities in Two Age Groups of Healthy Women

The forward head tilt and round holding of shoulder are the two postural problems, being observed not infrequently in young and middle age people. The present study is aimed at investigating such postural abnormalities in two-age groups of women.

In a relatively randomized sampling, 500 women in two age groups were tested to investigate the incidence of "Forward head" and "Round shoulder" abnormalities. 400 women between the ages of 19-25  (mean 19 ) years and 100 between 35-50 (mean 40) years were examined for mild, moderate and severe   abnormalities. Evaluation of posture was carried out by plumb line. The kyphosis was also documented by a kyphosis goniometer . The  subjects were also asked about their back pain ,and then correlated with the postures and jobs and sporting activities.

 There was significant difference between variables of "age" and "round shoulder" (p<0.05), but the relationship between "age"  and "forward head" was not significant. (p <  0.05 ).Also, a significant correlation  was noticed between jobs that are position -dependent   and abnormalities and severity of pain with job( p<0.05).The  kyphosis angle was higher in  older age group.  There was also a correlation  between the kyphosis angle and pain  in interscapular region". (r=0.4, p=0.0001)

The postural abnormalities of “head tilt” and “round shoulder” are seen in both young and middle -age women .  The individuals  who do regular  exercises  have  less complaint of pain relative to their  postural anomalies. Age and Job are effective elements on incidence of most mentioned postural  abnormalities in older subjects.