Sagittal Posture Measurement in Adolescent Athletes: Which Parameters Are Reliable over the Course of a Day?

Analyzing the posture of athletes is an important preventive diagnostic tool, especially because some posture parameters appear to be associated with risk of muscle injury and complaints. So far, it is unclear how these parameters change during the day under sport-related stress. In this pilot study, the posture parameters of pelvic tilt, body lean, trunk lean, and pelvic displacement were analyzed in 20 soccer players (16.61 ± 0.28 years, 179.38 ± 6.40 cm, 70.35 ± 7.79 kg, playing in the German Youth Academy League) at three points in time on one day, in each case with habitual posture and active posture with eyes open and closed. Intensive sporting activities took place between the measurement points. A repeated two-factor ANOVA was calculated for each posture parameter with the factors of measurement time and posture. Cohen’s d was determined as a measure of the effect size, and the intra-class correlation coefficient was calculated for the three measurement times. Only pelvic tilt and body lean remained stable throughout the day. We therefore recommend using both parameters to assess the posture of athletes, especially because studies show that they can be associated with possible complaints and injuries. However, since the examined posture parameters change significantly depending on whether a habitual or actively tense posture is adopted, particular attention must be paid to reproducible postures and clear instructions to the test subjects.