Usefulness of pGALS as a screening test in children and adolescents in Colombia. Cross-sectional study

Abstract

IntroductionThe early identification of disorders of the musculoskeletal system in paediatrics should be of use in their approach and treatment. pGALS (paediatric Gait, Arms, Legs and Spine) is a tool used for evaluation of children with previous musculoskeletal disease. No studies were found in the literature reviewed that used pGALS as a screening test in Colombia. ObjectiveTo identify the usefulness of pGALS as a screening test in children and adolescents in Colombia. Materials and methodsDescriptive, cross-sectional study, which included children and adolescents, aged 6–16 years without a previous diagnosis of inflammatory or autoimmune skeletomuscular disease, who were evaluated with pGALS in their homes and in their schools during September and October 2018. ResultsThe study included 169 patients, with a mean age of 9.43 years. Changes in pGALS were observed in 66.85% of the participants. The positive response to the first question in the examination had a sensitivity of 91.3%, a specificity of 53%, a positive likelihood ratio of 1.9, and negative likelihood ratio of 0.16 to identify changes in the musculoskeletal system. The positive response to any of the three questions had a statistically significant association to find altered pGALS (p = 0.001), sensitivity 58%, specificity 94%, positive likelihood ratio of 9.3, and negative likelihood ratio of 0.44. The acceptance by pGALS patients was 95.3%. The mean time to perform the test was 2:27 min. ConclusionsPGALS is a quick and easy tool that is well tolerated by patients, and helps in the identification of musculoskeletal system disorders in the paediatric population.