RELATIONSHIP OF ROUNDED SHOULDER POSTURE WITH PEAK EXPIRATORY FLOW RATE IN UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL STUDENTS HAVING MECHANICAL NECK PAIN
Keywords:
Rounded shoulder posture, Mechanical neck pain, Peak expiratory flow rateAbstract
Introduction: Undergraduate medical and allied health sciences students spend a large part of their day studying in numerous wrong positions for a prolonged time. This leads to the development of back discomfort and may affect the structural development of the spine. Lack of focus on posture, giving too little time to physical activity and mental stress have been reported to cause musculoskeletal problems such as Rounded Shoulder Posture (RSP) and Mechanical Neck Pain (MNP). RSP causes a decrease in lung compliance, affecting Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR).
Material & Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on undergraduate medical students with a sample size of 218 where 113 were females and 105 were male. Two questionnaires were used, Northwick Park Neck pain questionnaire (NPQ), for checking the level of neck disability and pain, and a self-structured questionnaire where general questions were asked and values of RSP and PEFR were noted. The degree of RSP was checked through the vernier caliper manually whereas PEFR was calculated by taking the meaning of three values taken from each participant through flow meter. Ethical approval for the study was granted by Institutional Review Board and Ethical Committee of Alliance Healthcare, under approval number IRB&EC/2023-HIS/057.
Results: In the study, Pearson correlation test showed that the RSP is associated with PEFR in participants having MNP. Mean and standard deviation of Rounded Shoulder Posture was 8.33±1.75 cm and PEFR was 265.11 ±112.11 L/min. The test showed that the P-value was <0.01 and R-value was 0.239. The significance is <0.01 which showed that there was correlation between RSP and PEFR. whereas when we applied the same test on participants having only MNP with PEFR, no significance (<0.426) was seen.
Conclusion: The study concluded that there is a relationship of RSP with PEFR, as the severity of abnormal posture and the degree of rounded shoulders increase, there is a significant decrease in expiratory flow levels.
