**Abstract**

The clinical assessment of spinal deformities often involves the assessment of posture and back shape together with the associated mobility of the spine, pelvis and rib cage. Currently, there is a wide range of posture and back shape assessment tools available for clinical use. The choice varies from conventional approach to advanced structured light methods. The advanced methods like ultrasound, 3D radiography and inertial sensors are not easily accessible to most clinicians, as they are either expensive, require specialist training or are complex and/or difficult to use. Thus, simple conventional methods like eyeballing, photography and the plumb line are still used within clinical practice today. The primary aim of this article is to give an overview of different tactile and non-tactile measurement systems that have been developed for the measurement of posture and whole-body analysis.

**Keywords:** posture, back shape, tactile, non-tactile, objective, whole body

## **1. Background**

The term 'spinal deformity' indicates the abnormal alignment or shape of the vertebral column and rib cage. Schwab et al. identifies the most common spinal deformities found in the population are scoliosis, lumbar lordoscoliosis, pelvic obliquity and either increased or decreased lumbar lordosis, with a high prevalence rate of 68% [1]. These spinal deformities are often linked to a range of different types of pain, physical dysfunction and psychosocial wellbeing [2–5]. The clinical assessment of these spinal deformities often involves the assessment of posture and back shape together with the associated mobility of the spine, pelvis and rib-cage. Currently, there are a wide range of posture and back shape assessment tools available for clinical use. The choice varies from conventional approaches to advanced structured light methods. The advanced methods like ultrasound [6], 3D radiography [7] and inertial sensors [8] are not easily accessible for most clinicians, as they were either expensive, require specialist training or are complex or difficult to use. Thus, simple conventional methods like "eyeballing" photography [9] and the plumb line [10] are still used within clinical practice.

A comprehensive literature review was undertaken firstly to search and retrieve research papers related to the tools and scientific methods for assessing posture and back shape and secondly to critique which methods were best for assessing posture

and back shape with regard to their cost, safety, reliability, validity, ease of use and duration. The primary research question for the current narrative review was 'what are the different types of tactile and non-tactile measurement systems, for the measurement of posture and whole-body analysis in adults with spinal disorders?'. And the secondary research question is related to the critical evaluation of assessment methods in terms of cost, safety, reliability and validity of the tools.
