Thoracic kyphosis comparison between a patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and a healthy individual by flexicurve method

ABSTRACT Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by airflow obstruction, air entrapment and pulmonary hyperinflation. These pathophysiological factors can compromise the diaphragmatic mobility, causing deformities in the thoracic cavity and consequently increasing the angle of the thoracic curvature. We compared the angle of the thoracic curvature between COPD patients and healthy individuals by the flexicurve method. Thirty-seven patients with COPD and 37 healthy individuals participated in the study. All subjects performed the following evaluations: anthropometry, spirometry, and measurement of the thoracic curvature angle. The data were analyzed and treated with descriptive analysis such as mean and standard deviation. The Shapiro-Wilk test was used to verify the normality of the data. The Student's t-test was used to compare the thoracic curvature angle of patients with COPD with healthy individuals. The significance level adopted was 5%. The mean age of the COPD group was 65.70±7.91 years, body mass index (BMI) of 26.73±5.34kg/m2, and FEV1(expected %) of 50.65±19.08, showing moderate obstruction degree. Healthy individuals showed an average of 7.27±62.49 years, BMI of 26.97±3.55kg/m² and FEV1(expected %) of 94.05±0 9.44. We did not observe any significant difference between patients with COPD and healthy individuals in the thoracic curvature angle: 56.67±11.31 and 55.42±9.61 degrees, respectively (p=0.61). The flexicurve method proved to be a useful and practical tool for assessing the thoracic kyphosis, and it also identified no difference between the thoracic curvature of COPD patients with moderate obstruction and of healthy individuals.