Influence of physical activity and postural habits in schoolchildren with scoliosis

Abstract

Background Scoliosis is considered one of the main musculoskeletal changes in childhood, and is characterized by three-dimensional changes in the spine. Schoolchildren is a group who are directly exposed to this condition because they go through a rapid growth phase in adolescence, added to other external factors such as school environment and daily living habits such as little physical activity. This study aimed to identify the risk factors associated with scoliosis in schoolchildren. Methods An observational, retrospective case control study with a quantitative approach was carried out in the city of Santa Cruz/RN. The presence of scoliosis was assessed using the Adams test and physical activity by the Daily Physical Activity Index (IPAQ) and by a questionnaire on competitive sports practice, in addition to a questionnaire on postural habits in childhood and adolescence. Conditional multiple logistic regression was performed for statistical analysis, and the adjusted Odds Ratios (OR) and the respective confidence intervals (95%) of the outcome variable were estimated. Results A total of 156 schoolchildren participated in the study, with an average age of 13.9 years, with 55.1% being female and 44.9% male, attending between the 6th grade of elementary school and the 3rd year of high school. Furthermore, 42.9% of these participants were considered irregularly active and only 33.3% practiced physical activity on a regular basis. After bivariate analysis and conditional logistic regression, little physical activity was shown to be a risk factor for scoliosis (p = 0.041; OR: 2.81; 95% CI: 1.04–7.57), while the postural habits evaluated in this study did not show a statistical association with scoliosis. Conclusion Low practice of physical activity and schoolchildren being classified as irregularly active were considered as risk factors for scoliosis, however postural habits do not seem to be associated with this condition.

Regularities in Diseases of the Musculoskeletal System Developing in Schoolchildren Under Complex Exposure to Environmental Factors and Factors Related to Lifestyle

“…The assessment revealed that diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue constantly held the 1 st rank place in the structure of morbidity among 4 th grade children as well as middle and senior school children. These results are in line with data provided by foreign and domestic researchers [2,3,[16][17][18][19][20][21].…”

“…Hypodynamia is another behavioral aspect that exerts negative influence on the musculoskeletal system. Physical activity is known to improve blood supply and to activate osteoblast functioning, protein synthesis, calcification, and bone tissue metabolism [15,16]. 60.5 % schoolchildren from Gymnasium were quite committed to doing sports since they did physical exercises or sport from 4 to 7 times a week whereas most schoolchildren from School (76.0 %) attended sports clubs or did physical exercises less than 3 times a week.…”

The role of school medicine in the early detection and management of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

“…Since the majority of adolescents, in particular girls, do not meet the current guidelines on physical activity [ 17 ], we presume that lifestyle trends (increased screen time, physical inactivity, and sedentary behavior) are the leading culprits. The association between low physical activity and scoliosis was described in a recent study [ 18 ], in which the FBT was used to assess scoliosis. The observed gender difference may be due to the fact that boys are more involved in sports and physical activity while girls prefer a more sedentary lifestyle, the trend noted in the latest Croatian Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey in 2017/2018 [ 19 ].…”

Upper Body Posture Investigation in Young Track and Field Athletes

“…Some factors may influence the upper body posture as behavioral habits, school and homework routine, time spend on mobile device, posture adapted to carry school bag (Cejudo, 2022;da Rosa et al, 2022;Popescu & Lee, 2020;Vaterlaus et al, 2021). Although sports training might have some disadvantageous effects on posture, it is essential to emphasize the positive influence of physical activity on physical fitness of children and youth, which has been documented by numerous authors (Tomaczkowski & Klonowska, 2020;de Assis et al, 2021;Xing & Popik, 2020;Opala-Berdzig et al, 2021).…”