Comparison of chest expansion in two different shoulder positions and determination of reference value in South Indian adult population

Normal chest expansion is vital for respiratory system function and tissues oxygenation and this depend on the presence of effective normal thoracic cage mobility and healthy lung, any disorder that interferes with chest expansion will affect the oxygen supply to the vital organs of the body  .Evaluation of chest expansion is an important step in physical examination of respiratory system. Assessing for chest expansion provides clues regarding the presence of chest wall pathology, lung volume loss or obstruction. Measurement of thoracic expansion with an inch tape is  a reliable objective outcome measure in patients having respiratory diseases and also in normal subjects for assessing their respiratory status. (Brockenhurst SE et al., 2017). Chest expansion can be done at three levels - 2nd,4th ICS and xiphoid level  (Debouche S et al., 2016).

**OBJECTIVES WITH JUSTIFICATION :**1. The chest expansion would assessed with shoulder in different positions by assessors. This change in shoulder position  may influence the chest expansion , in literature search we found lacunae  in this view point hence  this study was taken up to find out whether the shoulder position influences the chest expansion.

2.There is a vast discrepancy in practice to use reference values and there is no specific reference data on chest expansion available for young adults of South India. Hence ,this study would be done to measure the chest expansion and to establish reference equation for chest expansion in healthy young South Indian adults, understanding relation of age, height ,weight and BMI with chest expansion.