School scoliosis screening of the world -historical background and current situation-

Abstract

School scoliosis screening (SSS) officially began in 1963 in Minnesota, USA, and the model of SSS subsequently spread all over the world. On the basis of comprehensive literature review regarding SSS published by 2018, 23 countries, including Japan have been performed SSS. However, 4 countries (the United Kingdom, Norway, Canada, Australia) abolished SSS at the present. The most popular test was the forward bending test followed by measurement of the angle of trunk rotation and Moiré topography. With regard to positions on SSS, there were 16 countries in positive, 4 countries in negative, and 3 countries in controversial positions. None of the countries except Japan enshrine SSS in law. It revealed that SSS was independently adopted and run by their own systems and techniques on the basis of the concepts of each country although the efficacy of SSS was still controversial. Recently, a review report regarding SSS has been published from Russia, that never had SSS so far. The present global direction of SSS is considered positive.