[Screening for scoliosis in western Galilee schools]

Scoliosis screening is still under debate. It is generally agreed that it is not cost-effective, but some still favor it as integral to preventive medicine. Among 2940 school children, aged 9 - 13, from several Moslem-Arab villages in the western Galilee, 55 (1.9%) were found to have some deformity on physical examination and were referred for spinal X-ray. Of these, 24 were X-rayed and in 20 of them there was a scoliosis of more than 7 degrees. The prevalence of in-family marriage in those with deformities was 31%, not significantly different from the 35% found in their communities. Using the worst-case analysis, the Moslem-Arab population of western Galilee cannot be regarded as a population at risk for scoliosis. Considering the poor cooperation of the parents with further investigation, we conclude that scoliosis screening should not be performed in this community.