OBJECTIVES: To test the interrater agreement of photogrammetry used to assess postural alignment among children. METHODS: Thirtythree variables were measured from images of 122 healthy children aged seven to ten years, that is, 58 boys (8.39±0.97 years) and 64 girls (8.42±1.06 years). A digital camera (Sony® 6.0 MP DSC-T9) was positioned on a tripod (Vanguard VT-131) at a height of 90 cm and at a distance of 300 cm from the child. The anatomical points of interest were marked with colored adhesives (Pimaco®) on polystyrene spheres of 1 cm in diameter. The children were photographed wearing a bathing suit, in the upright position, in the anterior, posterior, lateral right and lateral left views. Each photograph was analyzed by three previously trained raters using the postural assessment software SAPo. The statistical software SASS/STAT v. 9 was used to obtain the interclass correlation coefficients (ICC). RESULTS: The results showed excellent interrater agreement (ICC>0.90) for 28 variables (84.85%) and good agreement (0.80>ICC>0.89) for five variables (15.15%), even with rigorous classification. CONCLUSION: This method was shown to be viable and to have the potential to generate reference data on postural alignment among children.
posture; children; photogrammetry; reproducibility of tests
