|
Media Releases
New Guide Helps Public Schools Detect Spinal Deformities
Columbia, Mo. (Apr. 27, 2006) For most preteens and teens routine preventive health checks by primary health care providers are uncommon. However, students among this particular age group are at high risk for a spinal problem called scoliosis - a fact that warrants a proactive school screening routine, according to a forthcoming school health guide video to be released to public schools across the State of Missouri.
Part of the "School Health Issues" series, the video emphasizes the vital role a 30-second school spinal screening can play to protect students from further deformity of scoliosis. It also offers detailed instruction for school nurses to develop efficient screening techniques. Missouri Arthritis and Osteoporosis Program (MAOP), Missouri Arthritis Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (MARRTC) and Missouri School Boards Association (MSBA) are behind the effort of the health education series.
Marked by abnormal spine curvature, scoliosis affects about one in every seven children ages 10 to 14, although the symptom often goes unnoticed or is misunderstood as bad posture to untrained eyes. When the rapid progression is left untreated or treated not as early as needed, complications and unnecessary damages may occur at a later time.
While it is recommended by American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons to conduct at least one spinal screening for girls in 6th to 8th grade and boys in 9th grade, too often the student will not visit the primary care provider and receive this inspection. Therefore, "school screening programs fulfill an essential health care need for thousands of Missouri children each year and is invaluable in the detection of scoliosis in its early stages," says Susan Robinson, Coordinator of Health Services for Columbia Public Schools.
According to statistics from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Service, the practice started early in the 70s in Missouri, and 84% of all Missouri schools provided screening on a voluntary basis as of September 2004. Dramatic improvements of clinical outcomes have been made since then, and many children and young adults who would have to live with crippling disability without school screening programs could now be managed very successfully, says Dr. Robert W. Gaines, an orthopedic surgeon with Columbia Orthopedic Group, Missouri.
The Missouri Arthritis Research Rehabilitation and Training Center (MARRTC) was established in 1971 at the University of Missouri-Columbia Arthritis Center. MARRTC is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (H133B031120) and is the only federally funded arthritis rehabilitation research and training center in the country.
As part of the MU Health Communication Research Center (HCRC), MARRTC's mission is to become a national leader in the areas of disability management and communication, improve the quality of life and promote independent living among people who have arthritis and arthritic conditions. MARRTC's core message is "Disability is everyone's issue."
|
|
