Scoliosis screening is good public service
Oklahoma rehab facility reaches students
Oklahoma is among the 30 or so states with no mandates regarding scoliosis screening among school-age children. As a result, many middle-aged adults suffer from its severe ramifications, which include pain and surgery.
"We’ve all known scoliosis is a severe problem," says Ashima Bajaj, MD, grants and research and development associate for Jim Thorpe Rehabilitation Center in Oklahoma City.
Jim Thorpe began a comprehensive scoliosis screening program for middle school students after receiving a grant from a woman who was interested in promoting such screening on behalf of a family member who had scoliosis.
The rehab facility’s challenge was to educate physicians and the public about the condition, because it was not well-known. "We have spoken with orthopedic surgeons and pediatricians in Oklahoma City [about creating] a big education awareness campaign for parents, as well as for physicians," Bajaj says. "Scoliosis was not emphasized in medical training in Oklahoma City."
Even physicians who received their medical training in Texas or other neighboring states that mandate scoliosis screening might not be providing routine screening to their patients because they expect the schools to take care of the matter, she adds.
The new scoliosis educational campaign includes providing continuing education credit for family practitioners and pediatricians who receive scoliosis training. The free session provides lunch and features national scoliosis experts as speakers. The rehab facility also will encourage rural physicians to attend.
Plans are to hold the physician training in the morning of the same day that the rehab facility will sponsor a large community education program. The public will have the opportunity to listen to professional speakers talk about scoliosis and why it’s important to screen for the problem.
"We would like to hold this program every year for the next three years, and we’d like to set up an endowment for people who can’t afford the brace or office visit," Bajaj says.
School nurses also will be trained to screen for scoliosis among the target population of students, ages 12 to 14. "If schools don’t have the money, we’ll fund the program or hire school nurses to come up for two to three days to do the screening," Bajaj says. The community education is expected to result in more parents asking their children’s physicians to check the child for scoliosis.
The screening is fairly simple, Bajaj explains. "A pediatrician can run fingers around the spine and put on a scoliometer to look for lateral deviation," she says. "If there is anything out of the norm the pediatrician can refer the student to a specialist."
Typically, a spine deviation of 10 to 20 degrees is considered a mild curve and could potentially result in a patient being placed in a brace. Any deviation above 20 degrees is considered moderate to severe scoliosis.
Unchecked, scoliosis can grow worse as people age and eventually result in debilitating pain, Bajaj says.
"Middle-aged people with scoliosis may have internal organs that are not placed properly; they’re almost dislocated," Bajaj says. "Their lungs and stomach are not in proportion to everything else."
People who have scoliosis that was never detected while they were young often will undergo surgery that may require their bodies being put in a cast for 10 months. But this extreme form of correction typically occurs after they have already suffered from physical and emotional problems resulting from the disorder.
"They live with a lot of pain and have psychological problems because they can’t wear certain things without it looking obvious that they don’t have a waist on the right and left sides," she explains. "Their bodies have been torqued a lot."
Rehab facilities will see these patients before surgery to assess whether rehab will be enough to help with their pain and show them how to walk properly. If the problem is severe enough, the patient will undergo surgery.
Need More Information?
Ashima Bajaj, MD, Grants and Research and Development Associate, Jim Thorpe Rehabilitation Center, 4219 Southwestern, Oklahoma City, OK 73109. Telephone: (405) 644-6229.
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