Postural dıfferences between professıonal soccer players and sedentary populatıon [Différences posturales entre les joueurs professıonnels de football et la populatıon sédentaıre]

Objective: Postural impairments may increase the risk of injury in soccer players. Regular physical exercise may improve the postural alignment. The aim of this study was to investigate the postural differences between soccer players and sedentary population. Methods: Forty-nine professional soccer players (mean age 20.67 ± 2.83; 49 male) and 51 healthy sedentary controls (mean age 21.07 ± 1.62; 51 male) participated in this study. Postural assessment was conducted with New York Posture Rating Chart. International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form was used to assess the physical activity levels of the participants. Results: New York Posture Rating scores of soccer players were higher than sedentary controls based on all of the body segments (P < 0.05). Total score of New York Posture Rating Chart was also higher in soccer players than in sedentary controls (P < 0.001). There were no significant difference between posture scores of inactive and moderately active sedentary controls based on none of body segments (P < 0.05) except trunk (P = 0.007). Conclusion: This study indicated that posture of soccer players is better than that of sedentary population. Physical activity may contribute postural alignment in terms of trunk posture in sedentary population. © 2019 Elsevier Masson SA