%0 Journal Article
%T Study of trunk asymmetry in normal children and adolescents
%A Theodoros B Grivas
%A Elias S Vasiliadis
%A Georgios Koufopoulos
%A Dimitrios Segos
%A Georgios Triantafyllopoulos
%A Vasilios Mouzakis
%J Scoliosis
%D 2006
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1748-7161-1-19
%X The strongest indicator for referral and further orthopaedic assessment of the general children and adolescent population for scoliosis during school-screening is the amount of asymmetry of the trunk shape, which is the existence of a hump at the thoracic, thoracolumbar or lumbar area [1,2].It is axiomatic, that any screening procedure for abnormality is based on knowledge of normality [3]. In this cross sectional study, the authors studied the trunk asymmetry in a sample of "normal" Mediterranean school children and adolescents. The distribution of trunk asymmetry by age was determined using a scoliometer. The 95% confidence limits of the method in use are set. The preferred position of examination for trunk asymmetry, that is the standing versus the sitting forward bending position, is determined. The incidence of small curves based on scoliometer readings is also reported.The scoliometer measurements in 2071 children and adolescents with a range of age from 5.5 to 18 years were studied. There were 1099 boys (53.1%) and 972 girls (46.9%). The children and adolescents were examined at school, using a particular protocol, which involved record of demographics, somatometric characteristics, assessment of handedness and assessment of back shape morphology using the Pruijs scoliometer [4] (Orthomet-Surgeyplant B.V. Postbus 483, 5140 AL Waalwijl, Netherlands).The bending test was performed in both standing and sitting forward bending position. In the standing forward bending position, the student was asked to bend forward looking down, keeping the feet approximately 15 cm apart, knees braced back, shoulders loose and hands positioned in front of knees or shins with elbows straight and palms opposed. Any leg length inequality was not corrected. The scoliometer was used at three areas of interest: at thoracic (T4¨CT8), thoraco-lumbar (T12-L1) and at the lumbar area (L3¨CL5). In the sitting forward bending position, the student was seated on a chair (40 cm high) and was aske
%U http://www.scoliosisjournal.com/content/1/1/19