KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES ABOUT POSTURAL AWARENESS AMONG UNDERGRADUATE PHYSICAL THERAPY STUDENTS OF KHYBER MEDICAL UNIVERSITY, PESHAWAR

Abstract

Introduction Health is a level of functional and metabolic efficiency of a living organism. The World Health Organization (WHO) define human health in its broader sense in its 1948 constitution as a state of complete physical and mental social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity Health is a dynamic condition resulting from body’s constant adjustment and adaptation in response to stresses and changes in the environment for maintaining an inner equilibrium called homeostasis. Physical is about the body. Mentality is about how people think and feel. Social talks about how people live with other people. It is about family, work, school and friends. Among the most important non-vital functions of a human is the postural control including seating, standing and the dynamic control named walking, running or jumping. Although postural distortions, such as forward head posture, increased lordosis, round shoulders and kyphosis were highly observed in most of the individuals before the education, these distortions significantly decreased after the education Thus it is necessary to conduct research on the students of undergraduate physical therapy students of Khyber Medical University to determine the knowledge and practices about postural awareness. This research study will offer facts and figures to planners of education and policy to take essential strategies and interventions to control the impact of wrong postures and ergonomics on students. Methodology A Descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at KMU ( Khyber medical university), Peshawar from September 2018 to January, 2019 to determine knowledge and practice on postural awareness among undergraduate students of physical therapy. The sample size calculated for the study was 424. 2 non-probability convenience sampling technique was used in the study. Permission for data collection has been granted from the responsible authority at the university and then data was collected from those subjects fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Results Among 415 physical therapy students, 290 (69.88%) students had correct knowledge about postural awareness and 125 (30.12%) students had incorrect knowledge about postural awareness Among 415 research subjects, 243 (58.55%) students had correct practice status while 172 (41.45%) students were showing incorrect practices Among 415 students there were 201 male subjects in which 100 (41.2%) students had correct practice status and 101 (58.7%) students had incorrect practices and there were 214 female subjects in which 143 (58.8%) students had correct practices and 71 (41.3%) students had incorrect practices. Conclusion It has been concluded that most of the students are exposed to the risk of adopting poor postures which can lead to different conditions like musculoskeletal disorders and postural deformities in future. The result of this study shows the importance of postural awareness among undergraduate physical therapy students.