Assessment of Forward Head Posture in UG Physiotherapy Students Using Prescription Eyeglasses

BACKGROUND: Forward head posture (FHP) is a common postural deviation characterized by the anterior displacement of the head relative to the thorax. It is associated with various musculoskeletal disorders, including neck pain, headaches, and shoulder pain. While the role of prescription eyeglasses in FHP has been debated, this study aimed to investigate this association among undergraduate physiotherapy students. METHODOLOGY: A sample of 235 undergraduate physiotherapy students, aged 17 to 25 from Lokmanya Tilak College of Physiotherapy Kharghar was enlisted for this study. To evaluate the impact of the intervention, two primary outcome measures were employed: a self-designed questionnaire to collect subjective data on posture and pain, and photogrammetric measurement of the cranio-vertebral angle using KINOVEA software to objectively assess postural alignment. RESULT: The statistical analysis shows that there is no significant difference in the P value of Craniovertebral Angles of students with and without glasses. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our study investigated the relationship between forward head posture (FHP) and prescription eyeglass use, focusing specifically on undergraduate physiotherapy students. In our total sample of 235 students, 44.6% of students had a forward head posture. Among the group of students who wear prescription glasses, 42.1 % had a forward head posture, and among the group of students who do not wear prescription eyeglasses, 46.5% of students had a forward head posture. Analysing data from 235 participants, including 107 eyeglass users, there was no statistically significant difference in Forward head Posture between Undergraduate Physiotherapy students wearing prescription eyeglasses and those not wearing them. Key words: Forward Head Posture, Cervical, Kinovea, Prescription Eye-glasses, Physiotherapy Students, FHP, Posture, Neck