[The prevalence and pattern of locomotor disorders in senior pupils]

The study deals with the analysis of the prevalence of disorders of the locomotor apparatus (LMA) in senior schoolchildren from 9th-to-11th-forms of various general educational establishments, such as a secondary general educational school, a technical lyceum (general educational and specialized classes), and a physical engineering school. The academic load, educational conditions, and teaching methods in each establishment differed and conformed to the implemented school-based educational program. Sixty hundred and eighteen senior schoolchildren were examined. In the senior pupils of the physical engineering school the educational program of which is characterized by increased academic loads, the prevalence of scoliotic deformity of the spine was found to be 3-5 times greater than that in those of the secondary general educational school. The higher prevalence of LMA disorders in the pupils from the general educational classes of the technical lyceum (8.6- and 3-fold in boys and girls, respectively) is indicative of the leading influence of a social factor on the development of scoliotic deformity. The impact of increased academic loads on the MDA is also suggested by the difference in the incidence of MDA disorders among the pupils of general educational and specialized classes of the technical lyceum. Emphasis is laid on the need for taking into account the findings to substantiate comprehensive preventive programs and health-improving measures in the educational establishments.