Abstract

EFFECT OF DIFFERENT SITTING POSTURES ON PULMONARY FUNCTION IN YOUNG HELTHY INDIVIDUALS

Dr. Jumana J. Vanwala*, Dr. Sweety Shah, Dr. Neeta Vyas.

Abstract

Introduction- Spirometry is physiological test that measures how an individual inhale or exhales Volumes of air as a function of time. Neck pain & back pain are very common condition in young individuals due to their abnormal sitting postures like slumped sitting & slouched sitting. So purpose of this study is to see whether these abnormal sitting postures affect their pulmonary function or not. Aims and objective- To determine the changes in pulmonary function in young healthy individuals with variation in sitting postures. Method- Ethic’s approval and written informed consent of the 90 subjects was taken prior to study. In this study male & female between age group of 18 to 24 years with normal BMI (18.5 to 22.9kg/m2), good posture, nonsmokers & willing to participate were included. Subjects who have BMI22.9 kg/m2, poor posture, any orthopedic, cardiovascular or neurological disease and doing gym training, yoga or pranayam were excluded. Each participant was given three different sitting postures-Slumped, Upright, Slouched. 30 seconds rest period was provided in between the postures. Outcome measures- FEV1(forced expiratory volume) % of predicted, FVC (forced vital capacity) % of predicted, PEF (peak expiratory flow) % of predicted, MVV (maximum voluntary ventilation) % of predicted RESULT- Statistical analysis was done by SPSS version 16. One way- ANOVA test was applied to determine difference of pulmonary function in three different postures. Pulmonary function was better in upright posture but p value is not significant in any of the postures. CONCLUSIONThere is no effect on pulmonary function in upright, slumped and slouched sitting postures in young healthy individuals’ in the age group of 18 to 24 years.

Keywords: pulmonary function, slumped posture, slouched posture.