Seated Trunk Posture at Various Seat Inclinations, Seat Heights, and Table Heights

Abstract

The posture of 10 subjects who were reading while sitting at six different chair-table arrangements was examined by statometry. Two fixed seats with inclinations of − 5 deg (backward) and + 5 deg, respectively, and one tiltable seat were used. Of four heights of chair and table, two were based on different anthropometric measurements and two were based primarily on spontaneous choice by the subjects. The lumbar spine tended to decrease the kyphosis with increasing seat inclination forward, especially if combined with increasing seat height. The inclinations of the pelvis and the trunk as well as the posture of the cervical spine did not change systematically with different chair-table arrangements. Spontaneously chosen heights were not seen to alter the posture systematically as compared with anthropometrically based adjustments. The subjects tended to prefer the tiltable seat over either of the two fixed seat inclinations.