Idiopathic scoliosis: Static analysis of the influence of shim use on postural angles

Influence of physical activity and postural habits in schoolchildren with scoliosis

BACKGROUND

Scoliosis is considered one of the main musculoskeletal changes in childhood, and is characterized by three-dimensional changes in the spine. Schoolchildren is a group who are directly exposed to this condition because they go through a rapid growth phase in adolescence, added to other external factors such as school environment and daily living habits such as little physical activity. This study aimed to identify the risk factors associated with scoliosis in schoolchildren.

METHODS

An observational, retrospective case control study with a quantitative approach was carried out in the city of Santa Cruz/RN. The presence of scoliosis was assessed using the Adams test and physical activity by the Daily Physical Activity Index (IPAQ) and by a questionnaire on competitive sports practice, in addition to a questionnaire on postural habits in childhood and adolescence. Conditional multiple logistic regression was performed for statistical analysis, and the adjusted Odds Ratios (OR) and the respective confidence intervals (95%) of the outcome variable were estimated.

RESULTS

A total of 156 schoolchildren participated in the study, with an average age of 13.9 years, with 55.1% being female and 44.9% male, attending between the 6th grade of elementary school and the 3rd year of high school. Furthermore, 42.9% of these participants were considered irregularly active and only 33.3% practiced physical activity on a regular basis. After bivariate analysis and conditional logistic regression, little physical activity was shown to be a risk factor for scoliosis (p = 0.041; OR: 2.81; 95% CI: 1.04-7.57), while the postural habits evaluated in this study did not show a statistical association with scoliosis.

CONCLUSION

Low practice of physical activity and schoolchildren being classified as irregularly active were considered as risk factors for scoliosis, however postural habits do not seem to be associated with this condition.

The correlation between back posture and sagittal jaw position in adult orthodontic patients

Objective

A debate remains in evidence-based medicine about the reciprocal interchange between dental occlusion and body postural therapy. Back posture deformity has been found to be related to trunk asymmetry as one characteristic of scoliosis that is commonly reported in occlusal development issue. This study aims to determine the correlation between back posture and sagittal jaw position in adult orthodontic patients treated at the dental hospital of Universitas Sumatera Utara.

Methods

This observational study was conducted on orthodontic patients who had routine orthodontic control between October 2019 and February 2020. The sagittal jaw relationship on pre-treatment cephalometry lateral-based on Steiner analysis was done with OrthoVision software. The back posture that related to cervical, thoracic, and lumbar measurement was performed using scoliometer plastic economy (Baseline®).

Results

From 128 patients, aged between 18 and 30 years, we found 72 patients with Class I, 41 patients with Class II, and 15 patients with Class III skeletal malocclusion. There were no significant differences of trunk asymmetry based on sagittal jaw relationship (p = 0.651). Additionally, there was no significant correlation between back posture and sagittal jaw position in Class II and Class III patients (r = 0.112, p > 0.05).

Conclusion

In this study, the sagittal jaw relationship had poor correlation to back posture in orthodontic adult patients due to a compensatory mechanism. The presence of temporomandibular dysfunction, sella-nasion-B point, and head posture are specific variables in a particular dento-skeletal type that should be considered in further studies.

Efficacy of Ultrasound for Localized Fat Treatment on Clinical and Psychological Outcomes: A Randomized, Single-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

Background

The use of ultrasound for localized fat treatment on possible psychological influences is little explored to date. Therefore, it is relevant to elaborate studies that include a placebo group in order to measure the real effects of the exclusive application of ultrasound.

Objectives

To verify the influence of ultrasound application for localized fat treatment on clinical, functional, and psychological outcomes.

Methods

Thirty female participants who were candidates for localized abdominal fat treatment were included and randomly divided into three groups: control (CG, n = 10), experimental (EG, n = 10), and placebo (PG, n = 10). The CG did not receive any intervention. The EG received 10 ultrasound sessions for 20 minutes. For the PG, ultrasound was also applied for 20 minutes, but with zero intensities. Anthropometric assessment, cardiovascular parameters, circumference measurements, photography, endurance test, and subjective questionnaires were performed before and after the treatment protocols.

Results

The EG photographs show an improvement of 60% in the visual appearance. Regarding the other analyzed outcomes, no statistically significant differences were found between moments and groups (P > 0.05).

Conclusions

Pretreatment and posttreatment photographs analysis demonstrate visual improvement in the appearance of abdominal localized fat in the EG. However, ultrasound application, when compared with CG and PG, is not a superior method for improving clinical, functional, and psychological parameters.

Level of Evidence: 2