Me. Franklin et T. Connerkerr, AN ANALYSIS OF POSTURE AND BACK PAIN IN THE FIRST AND 3RD TRIMESTERS OF PREGNANCY, The Journal of orthopaedic and sports physical therapy, 28(3), 1998, pp. 133-138
While the incidence oi back pain during pregnancy has beer, shown to b
e high, few studies have investigated postural changes that occur duri
ng pregnancy and their relationship to back pain. The purpose oi this
study was to determine if posture and back pain changed from the first
to the third trimester of pregnancy and whether there was a relations
hip between the two. Twelve healthy women who were having uncomplicate
d pregnancies participated in the study. During the first and third tr
imesters, each subject had their standing posture and back pain assess
ed by a Metrecom Skeletal Analysis System and a 0- to 10-cm line pain
scale respectively. Repeated measures analysis of variance and Pearson
correlation coefficients were calculated on or between back pain and
nine posture variables and revealed significant increases in third tri
mester back pain and postures compared with first trimester back pain
(p <.05) and postures for lumbar angle (p <.01), posterior head positi
on (p <.01) right pelvic sagittal left (p <.01), and left pelvic sagit
tal tilt (p <.01). No significant relationships were found between mag
nitude of or change in posture and back pain. These results suggest th
at in the standing position the lumbar lordosis and sagittal pelvic ti
lt increased and head position became more posterior as women progress
ed from the first trimester to the last trimester of pregnancy. These
postural changes, however, were not related to back pain. This suggest
s that many oi the posture-correcting clinical exercise regimens given
to pregnant women need to be investigated.