Screening school children for scoliosis on the island of Crete.

The present study is the first that reports the prevalence of scoliotic changes in the island of Crete. We examined 21,220 children (10,942 boys and 10,278 girls), which corresponds to 87.8% of the 6-12-year-old children living in the Iraklion district (city and rural areas). Of the examined population, 9.6% were referred for radiological examination; 1.7% of the screened children were found to have spine deformities with angular values > 10 degrees. The prevalence of severe abnormalities (> 20 degrees) requiring conservative treatment was 0.06%. Thirty percent of the scoliotic deformities involved the thoracolumbar region, whereas 48 and 22% of curves were confined to the thoracic or lumbar area, respectively. The cost of the screening per child during the 1st year was estimated to be $10 (U.S.), but it was reduced by 42% during the 2nd year. The screening program is continuing to include all four districts of the island of Crete and assess the impact of scoliosis screening programs and of conservative treatment on the natural history of the disease. Scoliometers are used for the selection of children who should be referred for radiological evaluation (> 7 degrees). The screening includes children older than 8 years of age.