Screening for scoliosis.

Abstract

Introduction Screening programs for scoliosis have been in effect in the United States and Canada for 30 years. The belief is that with early detection, treatment of scoliosis may be instituted sooner, thereby reducing the number of patients who will require surgery or have crippling deformities. In addition, some of the cost of treatment may be reduced. Currently, school screening for scoliosis has been challenged as a viable means of achieving these goals, and such screening programs have been discontinued in Great Britain and parts of Canada. In the United States, as well as Great Britain and Canada, research has been devoted to issues of cost-effectiveness of these programs as well as the emotional side effects of being misdiagnosed as having scoliosis. School Screening The advocates of school screening espouse the philosophy that if a single case of scoliosis can be treated adequately and surgery avoided, cost is irrelevant. Those who criticize school screening note many flaws in the system. To screen in such a manner that no one with scoliosis is missed, many individuals are identified falsely as having scoliosis and are referred for confirmation by the pediatrician or orthopedist. Because so many patients are identified falsely, the true cost of screening is unacceptably high.