An Improved Indicator of Asymmetry in the Coronal Body Plane

Abstract

Objectives. The research aimed to increase validity of the indicators of asymmetry in the coronal body plane concerning a scoliosis about first grade pupils. Methods. Thirty-four pupils of six-seven years old (eighteen boys and sixteen girls) were randomly assigned in equal shares into experimental and control groups. Besides the standard physical education lessons, pupils of the experimental group had physical rehabilitation program specifically designed to prevent and reduce the asymmetry of a posture. From the very beginning and just before ending of the academic year, pupils were tested on the asymmetry of a spine column in the coronal plane. Results. The improved indicator was determined as a half sum of a magnitude of differences of the upper sides of Moshkov rhombus and a magnitude of difference of the lower sides. Conclusions. The indicator of a body asymmetry in the coronal plane, proposed in this work, which took into account the shape of the whole spine, made it possible to achieve consequently stronger significance (p=0.02) compared with a generally accepted indicator of the curvature of the neck area of the spine (p=0.05), which indicated significant improvement of the test validity.