BACKGROUND: Thoracic hyperkyphosis is one of the most common postural abnormalities. It is defined as increased thoracic curvature in the sagittal plan of the vertebral column. Normal kyphosis may range from 20º to 50º according to Cobb's radiographic method. The radiographic method is the most popular kyphosis measuring method, but because it is an expensive method and it exposes the individual to radiation, it is not the most appropriate method for periodic patient follow-up. Routine clinical examinations such as physiotherapeutic evaluation of thoracic kyphosis need to be valid, reliable, sensitive, practical and cheap. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the comparative validity and the intra and inter-rater reliability of thoracic kyphosis measurements using the flexicurve method. METHOD: This was a cross-sectional study in which the thoracic kyphosis of 56 people was evaluated from sagittal radiography of the thoracic column using Cobb's method and by means of the flexicurve method, by two evaluators. RESULTS: The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) between the measurements from the Cobb and flexicurve methods was 0.906. For diagnosing thoracic hyperkyphosis, the sensitivity was 85% and the specificity was 97%. CONCLUSION: The flexicurve method was shown to be a suitable quantitative clinical method for measuring the curvature of thoracic kyphosis.
kyphosis; posture; flexicurve method; Cobb's method; validity; reliability; flexicurve
