The efficacy of school screening for scoliosis

Adolescent Scoliosis Screening in Nara City Schools: A 23-Year Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study

Study Design

Retrospective cross-sectional study.

Purpose

To determine the prevalence of idiopathic scoliosis, define the distribution of the curve magnitude, evaluate the accuracy of Moiré topography as a screening tool, and investigate the cost-effectiveness of our screening system.

Overview of Literature

Early detection of idiopathic scoliosis provides the opportunity for conservative treatment before the deformity is noticeable. We believe that scoliosis screening in schools is useful for detection; however, screening programs are controversial owing to over referral of students who do not require further testing or follow-up. In Japan, school scoliosis screening programs are mandated by law with individual policies determined by local educational committees. We selected Moiré topography as the scoliosis screening tool for schools in Nara City.

Methods

We selected Moiré topography as the scoliosis screening tool for schools in Nara City. We screened boys and girls aged 11-14 years and reviewed the school scoliosis screening results from 1990 to 2012.

Results

A total of 195,149 children aged 11-14 years were screened. The prevalence of scoliosis (defined as ≥10° curvature) was 0.057%, 0.010%, and 0.059% in fifth, sixth, and seventh grade boys and 0.337%, 0.369%, and 0.727% in fifth, sixth, and seventh grade girls, respectively. The false-positive rate of our Moiré topography was 66.7%. The minimum cost incurred for scoliosis detection in one student was 2,000 USD.

Conclusions

The overall prevalence of scoliosis was low in the students of Nara City schools. Over 23 years, the prevalence of scoliosis in girls increased compared to that in the first decade of the study.

A health economic evaluation of screening and treatment in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis can progress and affect the health related quality of life of the patients. Research shows that screening is effective in early detection, which allows for bracing and reduced surgical rates, and may save costs, but is still controversial from a health economic perspective.

STUDY DESIGN

Model based cost minimisation analysis using hospital's costs, administrative data, and market prices to estimate costs in screening, bracing and surgical treatment. Uncertainty was characterised by deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. Time horizon was 6 years from first screening at 11 years of age.

OBJECTIVE

To compare estimated costs in screening and non-screening scenarios (reduced treatment rates of 90%, 80%, 70% of screening, and non-screening Norway 2012).

METHODS

Data was based on screening and treatment costs in primary health care and in hospital care settings. Participants were 4000, 12-year old children screened in Norway, 115190 children screened in Hong Kong and 112 children treated for scoliosis in Norway in 2012. We assumed equivalent outcome of health related quality of life, and compared only relative costs in screening and non-screening settings. Incremental cost was defined as positive when a non-screening scenario was more expensive relative to screening.

RESULTS

Screening per child was € 8.4 (95% CrI 6.6 to10.6), € 10350 (8690 to 12180) per patient braced, and € 45880 (39040 to 55400) per child operated. Incremental cost per child in non-screening scenario of 90% treatment rate was € 13.3 (1 to 27), increasing from € 1.3 (-8 to 11) to € 27.6 (14 to 44) as surgical rates relative to bracing increased from 40% to 80%. For the 80% treatment rate non-screening scenario, incremental cost was € 5.5 (-6 to 18) when screening all, and € 11.3 (2 to 22) when screening girls only. For the non-screening Norwegian scenario, incremental cost per child was € -0.1(-14 to 16). Bracing and surgery were the main cost drivers and contributed most to uncertainty.

CONCLUSIONS

With the assumptions applied in the present study, screening is cost saving when performed in girls only, and when it leads to reduced treatment rates. Cost of surgery was dominating in non-screening whilst cost of bracing was dominating in screening. The economic gain of screening increases when it leads to higher rates of bracing and reduced surgical rates.

Does school scoliosis screening make the grade?

School nurses have provided routine health screenings of school-age children for decades. During the 1970s, recommendations for school scoliosis screening, which were based upon poor access to health care, led state boards of education to mandate that school nurses screen for scoliosis. The history of mandated scoliosis screening in U.S. schools is reviewed, and current school nurse practices for scoliosis screening are presented. Elevated referral rates for repeat scoliosis examination following school scoliosis screenings have led to questions of efficacy. Further controversy exists regarding school nurses screening for scoliosis due to a lack of evidence indicating a decreased need for scoliosis surgery. This article contains evidence-based recommendations for discontinuing school scoliosis screening to help school nurses refocus their efforts on complex health needs and preventive health issues more likely to impact the majority of their students.

Referral criteria for school scoliosis screening: assessment and recommendations based on a large longitudinally followed cohort

STUDY DESIGN

This study was a retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the criteria recommended in the literature for the school-based scoliosis screening program in Hong Kong.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA

School-based screening for scoliosis has been a controversy. Objectors to the policy were concerned about the high over-referral and false-positive rates. Recommendations were then made for improvement, but the feasibility of these recommendations has not been studied.

METHODS

The cohort consisted of students in Grade 5 in 1995/1996 or 1996/1997 who underwent scoliosis screening in Hong Kong. Participants who had an angle of trunk rotation (ATR) ≥15°, 2 or more moiré lines, or presented significant clinical signs were referred for radiography. Screening histories and radiography records before the age of 19 years were extracted. The accuracy measures for different combinations of screening tests were examined.

RESULTS

There were 115,178 students in the cohort, of which 3228 (2.8%) were referred for radiography. Among the 1406 students who displayed a curve ≥20° during screening, 257 (18.3%) were boys and 336 (23.9%) were identified as 16 years or older, ruling out the suggestion of screening only 10-year-old girls. The sensitivity and positive predictive value for the current referral criteria were 88.1% and 43.6%, respectively. The sensitivity would drop substantially if the use of moiré topography (39.8%) or clinical signs (55.5%) were discarded. With the inclusion of these 2 tests, the clinical effectiveness measures were robust to the cutoff for ATR, unless it was set below 10°.

CONCLUSION

Selectively screening only premenarche girls was not feasible, as this screen would have missed a significant proportion of children with significant curvature. No refinement of the current protocol was necessary, although boys could be screened beginning at 12 years of age. The tandem use of ATR, moiré topography, and clinical signs was recommended for future studies.

Clinical effectiveness of school screening for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: a large population-based retrospective cohort study

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of school scoliosis screening using a large and long-term-followed cohort of students in Hong Kong.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA

School screening for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis has been criticized as resulting in over-referrals for radiography and having low predictive values. Indeed, all but one previous retrospective cohort studies had no follow-up assessments of students until their skeletal maturity, leaving any late-developed curves undetected. The one study that completed this follow-up was well conducted but had low precisions due to its small sample size.

METHODS

A total of 157,444 students were eligible for a biennial scoliosis screening, and their screening results and medical records up to 19 years of age were available. Students first had forward bending test and angle of trunk rotation (ATR) performed. Those with ATR between 5 degrees and 14 degrees or signs of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis were assessed by moiré topography regularly. Students with an ATR >or=15 degrees , >or=2 moiré lines, or significant clinical signs were referred for radiography and had their Cobb angle measured.

RESULTS

Of the 115,190 screened students in the cohort, 3228 (2.8%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.7%-2.9%) were referred for radiography. At the final follow-up, the positive predictive values were 43.6% (41.8%-45.3%) for a Cobb angle >or=20 degrees and 9.4% (8.4%-10.5%) for needing treatment, while the sensitivities were 88.1% (86.4%-89.6%) and 80.0% (75.6%-83.9%), respectively.

CONCLUSION

This is the largest study that has demonstrated that school scoliosis screening in Hong Kong is predictive and sensitive with a low referral rate. Screening should thus be continued in order to facilitate early administration of conservative treatments.

A meta-analysis of the clinical effectiveness of school scoliosis screening

STUDY DESIGN

A meta-analysis that systematically reviewed the evaluation studies of a scoliosis screening program reported in the literature.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the best current evidence on the clinical effectiveness of school screening for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA

The use of school scoliosis screening is controversial, and its clinical effectiveness has been diversely reported.

METHODS

Data sources included 3 databases, namely, PubMed, Google scholar, CINAHL database, and the references from identified reviews and studies. Studies were included if: (1) they adopted a retrospective cohort design; (2) were screened using either the forward bending test (FBT), angle of trunk rotation, or Moiré topography; (3) reported results of screening tests and radiographic assessments; (4) screened adolescents only; (5) reported the incidence of curves with a minimum Cobb angle of 10 degrees or greater; and (6) reported the number of referrals for radiography. Reviews, comments, case studies, and editorials were excluded.

RESULTS

Thirty-six studies, including 34 from the 775 initially identified studies and 2 from the references, met the selection criteria. The pooled referral rate for radiography was 5.0%, and the pooled positive predictive values for detecting curves > or =10 degrees , curves > or =20 degrees , and treatment were 28.0%, 5.6%, and 2.6%, respectively. There was substantial heterogeneity across studies. Meta-regression showed that programs using the FBT alone reported a higher referral rate (odds ratio [OR] = 2.91) and lower positive predictive values for curves > or =10 degrees (OR = 0.49) and curves > or =20 degrees (OR = 0.34) than programs using other tests. Only one small study followed students until skeletal maturity and reported the sensitivity of screening; however, the specificity was not reported. No severe publication bias was noted.

CONCLUSION

The use of the FBT alone in school scoliosis screening is insufficient. We need large, retrospective cohort studies with sufficient follow-up to properly assess the clinical effectiveness of school scoliosis screening.

The effect of shoulder-girdle loading by a school bag on lung volumes in Chinese primary school children

BACKGROUND

Heavy loading of the spine may induce musculoskeletal problems in children. Local surveys reported frequent overloading of school bags carried by primary school children. The effect of an overweight school bag on the child's lung function has not been reported.

AIMS

To investigate the effect of shoulder-girdle loading on forced expiratory lung volumes in primary school children and to compare this effect with that of an assumed kyphotic posture.

STUDY DESIGN AND SUBJECTS

Forty-three primary school children, mean age 9.6 years underwent spirometry lung-function measurements, while adopting the following five conditions in random order: free standing; kyphotic standing; standing wearing a backpack weighing 10%, 20% and 30% of their body weight.

OUTCOMES MEASURES

Forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and peak expiratory flow rate (PEF).

RESULTS

There were no significant differences in FEV1 and FVC between free standing and the 10% body weight load. However, both FEV1 and FVC decreased significantly when the student adopted the kyphotic posture and when the load in the backpack was increased to 20% and 30% of body weight.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates a restrictive effect on lung volumes when a school-bag load is heavier than 10% of a child's body weight. Our results also confirm the detrimental effect of a kyphotic posture on pulmonary mechanics and the necessity for health-care professionals to advocate proper postural advice to school children, teachers and parents.