ANALYSIS OF CERVICAL AND SHOULDER POSTURE IN SCHOOL CHILDREN USING BACK PACK EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Background: The backpack is one of several forms of manual load carriage that provides versatility and is often used by school students. Musculoskeletal problems associated with backpack use have become an increa sing concern with school children. Materials and Methods: A total of 200 subjects were taken for the study (100 Males and 100 Females) and they were recorded photographically under several load-carrying condition s. Cer- vical and Shoulder posture angles were calculated and compared. Results: After measuring all the angles by using UTHASCA Image tool 3.0 version. It was noted that Cranio-horizontal angle, Shoulder sagittal p osture angles significantly increased and Cranio-vertebral angle significantly decreased. Also the weight a nd time of backpack carried influenced Cervical and Shoulder posture. Conclusion: Forward head posture increased when carrying backpacks especially one with a heavy load. Carrying backpacks weighing 15% of body weight ap- peared to be too heavy to maintain standing posture for school students.