TY - JOUR
T1 - Educating Parents Improves Their Ability to Recognize Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis
T2 - A Diagnostic Accuracy Study
AU - de Groot, Charlotte
AU - Heemskerk, Johan L.
AU - Willigenburg, Nienke W.
AU - Altena, Mark C.
AU - Kempen, Diederik H. R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/4/1
Y1 - 2022/4/1
N2 - (1) In countries where scoliosis screening programs ended, the responsibility for detection shifted from healthcare professionals to parents. Since recognizing scoliosis is difficult for parents, more patients are presenting late. Increased awareness of scoliosis may favor earlier detection. This study examines the effect of educating parents to recognize scoliosis. (2) In this cross-sectional study a consecutive group of parents completed a digital assessment. They had to complete two identical series of fourteen cases (eight with scoliosis and six without). Each case displayed two photographs of the child’s back; one in standing position and one during forward-bending. Based on visual inspection, parents had to indicate if the child had to be referred to a physician. After assessing the first series, information was given on how to detect scoliosis. Subsequently, parents assessed the second series of cases. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated before and after education. (3) A total of 100 parents completed the assessment. The sensitivity to detect scoliosis was slightly but significantly higher after education (68.8% versus 74.0%; p = 0.002), while specificity was not (74.0% versus 74.8%; p = 0.457). (4) This study showed that educating parents improved their ability to recognize scoliosis without increasing the false positive referral rate. Although written instructions can bridge the gap with professional screening programs, the overall sensitivity in this study remained low. Therefore, education can improve the awareness and ability to detect scoliosis, but will not replace screening by professionals.
AB - (1) In countries where scoliosis screening programs ended, the responsibility for detection shifted from healthcare professionals to parents. Since recognizing scoliosis is difficult for parents, more patients are presenting late. Increased awareness of scoliosis may favor earlier detection. This study examines the effect of educating parents to recognize scoliosis. (2) In this cross-sectional study a consecutive group of parents completed a digital assessment. They had to complete two identical series of fourteen cases (eight with scoliosis and six without). Each case displayed two photographs of the child’s back; one in standing position and one during forward-bending. Based on visual inspection, parents had to indicate if the child had to be referred to a physician. After assessing the first series, information was given on how to detect scoliosis. Subsequently, parents assessed the second series of cases. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated before and after education. (3) A total of 100 parents completed the assessment. The sensitivity to detect scoliosis was slightly but significantly higher after education (68.8% versus 74.0%; p = 0.002), while specificity was not (74.0% versus 74.8%; p = 0.457). (4) This study showed that educating parents improved their ability to recognize scoliosis without increasing the false positive referral rate. Although written instructions can bridge the gap with professional screening programs, the overall sensitivity in this study remained low. Therefore, education can improve the awareness and ability to detect scoliosis, but will not replace screening by professionals.
KW - Adam’s forward bend test
KW - adolescent idiopathic scoliosis
KW - education
KW - informational support
KW - scoliosis screening
KW - self-detection
KW - self-screening
KW - sensitivity
KW - specificity
KW - untrained parents
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85128996828&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.3390/children9040563
DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/children9040563
M3 - Article
C2 - 35455607
SN - 2227-9067
VL - 9
JO - Children
JF - Children
IS - 4
M1 - 563
ER -