Postural Profile among Physical Therapy Students

Abstract

Objective: characterize the postural profile of students who are majoring in physical therapy at the Universidad del Cauca, Colombia. Methods: A descriptive study was done of 44 students who are enrolled in the physical therapy program at the Universidad del Cauca (Colombia). The socio-demographic and anthropometric features of the population in question were recorded on a card designed for that purpose, and a postural analysis was done with APIC Version 2.0. Results: The study showed 100% of the students analyzed had anatomic imbalances in the different images evaluated; the most frequent were shoulder and pelvis misalignments. Conclusions: It is worrisome that future physical therapists have anatomic imbalances even before they enter professional practice. If this situation is not remedied in time, their potentially healthy years of professional life will be reduced, most likely by the presence of muscular-skeletal lesions. Therefore, it is important to recommend a posture control program for this relatively healthy population.