Abstract
Purpose (main purposes and research question)The purpose of this study is to assess the accuracy and precision of the smartphone with application and casing (Scolioscreen) compared to the Scoliometer.MethodsThe Axial Trunk Rotation (ATR) was measured in adolescent scoliosis patients visiting the outpatient clinic while performing the Adam Forward Bending Test. The Scolioscreen measurements were performed by the orthopedic surgeon and a parent. They were compared to the measurement with the Scoliometer by the orthopedic surgeon, the gold standard. The accuracy was determined with the Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and precision was determined by assessing the intra- and inter-variability with the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC).ResultsFifty patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (44 girls) were included with a mean age of 14.1 years and a mean Cobb angle of 38.5°. The accuracy of both the parents and orthopedic surgeon was excellent with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.92 and 0.97, respectively. All the ICC’s, both intra- and inter-observer, were over 0.92 demonstrating excellent precision.ConclusionThis study confirms the accuracy and precision of the Scolioscreen when measuring the ATR on patients with AIS. Therefore, the Scoliometer can be replaced by the more easily available Scolioscreen which can be used by both physician and parents.
Highlights
Abandoning school screening for scoliosis leads to later discovery of the deformity [1, 2] as scoliosis can develop without complaints and can remain unnoticed for a long period of time
For the correlation between Cobb angle and Axial Trunk Rotation (ATR) as assessed by the orthopedic surgeon, we found a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.63 when using the Scoliometer and 0.60 when using the Scolioscreen
We found that in the hands of the parents the smartphone with application and casing (Scolioscreen) is an accurate and precise tool when measuring the ATR in patients with AIS
Summary
Abandoning school screening for scoliosis leads to later discovery of the deformity [1, 2] as scoliosis can develop without complaints and can remain unnoticed for a long period of time. Conservative treatment with a brace needs to be initiated before skeletal maturity in order to be able to prevent progression of the curve [3, 4]. If detected late and with a significant curve (> 50 Cobb angle), brace treatment is no longer an option and surgery is recommended to prevent progression in the future [5]. It is important to find these patients at an earlier phase in order to be able to prevent surgery. In order to develop an efficient screening program, there are certain criteria that need to be met [7]. The target disease should be common, an effective treatment should be available, the screening should be cost effective, the burden of screening should be limited, and there needs to be a validated screening tool, which will be the focus of this study
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