This study was performed to measure the posture correction effect of wearing ergonomic experimental clothing. Two types of experimental clothing (A, B) were developed. Both of them reinforced the muscles surrounding the spine. Experimental clothing A was developed by reflecting the shape and position of the pectoralis major muscle, abdominal muscle, and latissimus dorsi muscle. Experiment clothing B was developed by reflecting the integrated form of those muscles. Subjects were males in their 20s~30s (n=32). They were divided into two groups based on their acromion distance (AD): the turtle neck syndrome group (n=16, AD=3.81cm) and the normal group (n=16, AD=1.27cm). The correction of body posture was detected by three index values: change of the cervical curvature angle, horizontal distance between the seventh cervical vertebra and tragion, and AD. The comfort and tightness of the clothing were also measured. The results showed that both types of experimental clothing corrected body posture and that turtle neck syndrome can be prevented by wearing these types of posture correcting clothing. Two index values were decreased: cervical curvature angle (0.31~1.32°) and horizontal distance between seventh cervical vertebra and tragion (0.22~0.31cm). The chest was also stretched. The comfort was rated as good for both types of experimental clothing. These results indicate that the experimental clothing had a posture correction effect without any discomfort for daily living.

For design research of teenagers' posture correcting shirt, postures of teenagers were analyzed and became the base of inventing suitable patterns. The subjects of this study were 198 of both female and male middle school students from the city of Seoul. Students' postures in classroom and length change of body surface were observed and analyzed; based on this, total of 5 postures was selected, and length changes of body surface were applied. The patterns in this study were designed with stretch material to help antagonism by muscle movements. Each fabric that was used in this study had 110% of stretch, 120~140% of stretch, and 150~170% of stretch. Both of one-way-fabric and duplex-fabric were used in this study, depending on application site.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different postural correction in the electromyographic (EMG) activity of the trunk and hip muscles during bridging exercises. Twenty-four healthy subjects volunteered for this study. The muscle activity was recorded with surface electrodes over the erector spinae, multifidus, gluteus maximus (GM), and hamstring (Ham) muscles; it was measured by using surface EMG equipment under the following 3 experimental conditions: manual postural correction, verbal correction, and no correction. The maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) was determined for each muscle group in order to represent each exercise as a percentage of MVIC and allow for standardized comparison between subjects. A one-way analysis of variance was used to determine significant differences in the EMG activities of each muscle between the 3 experimental groups. During bridging exercises, the manual postural correction on normalized EMG activity of the GM muscle during manual guiding was significantly higher than during verbal guiding and without guiding (p<.05). Furthermore, the GM/Ham ratio was significantly higher during manual guiding than during verbal guiding and without guiding (p<.05). These findings suggest that the activities of the hip and trunk muscles may be favorably modified with manual guiding during bridging exercises.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects postural changes on respiratory muscles and acoustic parameters of the children with spastic cerebral palsy. Nine children with spastic cerebral palsy who required assistance when walking were selected. The ages of the children ranged from 6 to 9 years old. The phonation of the sustained vowel /a/ and the voice qualities of each child such as fundamental frequency(F0; Hz), pitch variation (Jitter; %), amplitude variation (Shimmer; %) and noise to harmonic ratio (NHR) were analyzed by Multi-Dimensional Voice Program (MDVP). The muscle activity of three major respiratory muscles: pectoralis major muscle, upper trapezius muscle and rectus abdorminalis muscle, were measured by examining the root mean square (RMS) of the surface EMG to investigate the impact of changes in the adjusted sitting posture of each subject. However, the RMS of pectoralis major muscle showed a significant differences (p<.05). Secondly, there were no significant differences in , Jitter and Shimmer between pre and post posture change, but there was a significant difference in NHR (p<.05). The data were collected in each individual; once prior and once after the sitting posture change. The data were analyzed by Wilcoxon signed ranks-test using SPSS version 14.0 for Windows. The findings of this study were as follows; Firstly, the RMS of upper trapezius and rectus abdorminalis muscle were not significant different between pre and post sitting posture changes. From the result, it is concluded that changes in the adjusted sitting posture decreases the abnormal respiratory patterns in the children with spastic cerebral palsy which is characterized by the hyperactivity of the respiratory muscles in breathing. Also, there is increased on the voice qualities in children with spastic cerebral palsy.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorder has been associated with long hours of computer work and prolonged periods of static posture. In clinical settings, postural correction is a common treatment approach for individuals with neck, shoulder, and back pain. This study was designed to identify the effect of Forward Head Posture Correctional Device during computer work. Twelve healthy adults (mean age, 27.4 yrs; mean height, 165.0cm mean weight, 65.8 kg) participated in the study. They had no medical history of neurological or surgical problems with their upper extremity. The subjects were asked to perform Head Forward Posture under the guidance of physical therapists and the measured angles were analyzed using a 3-D motion analysis system. Markers were placed on the C7 spinous process, tragus of the ear and forward head angle was between the line from the tragus to the C7 line and the Y-axis at the C7. The statistical significance of difference between, "without" and "with" correctional device was tested by paired t-test. A level of significance was set at α=.05. In comparison of the computer work between "without" and "with" correctional device, Forward Head Angle was showed significant difference (p<.05). In conclusion, the range of Forward Head Angle was significantly decreased during computer work with the correctional device. Further research is needed to understand the nature of motor control problems in deep muscles in patients with neck, shoulder, and back pain.