Trunk anterior flexibility (TAF) is a major component of clinical and physical ability tests and it is used as an indicative of vertebral function. The most used test for its quantification is the seat-and-reach (SRT), which considers hands touching feet as normality standard, with analysis criteria and parameters that are independent of variables. In this study, TAF was investigated in teenagers, after the occurrence of the height growth speed peak compared to gender, performance speed, and anthropometric data. Rates were provided as centimeters; body weight in kg. One hundred two adolescents took part of the study, being 45 females and 57 males, with ages between 16 and 20 years. The results suggest that gender factor, anthropometric data, and test performance speed influence flexibility rates; the evaluation of vertebral function cannot have SRT for reaching feet as a normality criterion, and that fast speeds lead to better results. In brief, results suggest that touching feet is a criterion ruling out a normal vertebral function in approximately 50% of the adolescents. Thus, the criterion used for making a decision regarding referring a teenager to recover higher flexibility rates must be reviewed.
Pliability; Joint instability; Adolescent; Physical examination
