Health TrialsbyHealthPanel

Body Structure and Capacity Evaluation of Adults With Scoliosis

ConditionScoliosis
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot listed
Trial typeObservational
Biological sexAll
Age18+
SponsorUniversity of Alberta

About this trial

Adults with scoliosis have not been the focus of much research in physical therapy despite their prevalence being very important. Adults with idiopathic scoliosis have a reported prevalence of about 2-11%. This includes adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis who have become adults but still have a scoliosis. They do not get much treatment as the adolescent treatment focuses on preventing worsening of the curvatures and the risk of progression is significantly reduced once a person reaches skeletal maturity. Still some patients experience self-image, function and pain issues which may be amenable to treatment using specific exercises as was recently shown. With ageing population a growing number of adults with de novo degenerative scoliosis is observed. This is a spinal misalignment due to spine degeneration. Adult degenerative scoliosis with pain is thought to affect about 24% of the ageing adults. This population has not been investigated very much.

Before planning conservative treatments for adults with scoliosis it would be important to describe what deficit these adults present that may be targeted by physical therapy. The objective of this study is to compare samples of patients with adults degenerative scoliosis, adult idiopathic scoliosis to matched healthy controls (for age, height and weight). Participants will complete questionnaires and a physical exam to identify which limitations they present that may be amenable to treatment with physical therapy. This information will assist planning trials to address the needs of these two neglected patient populations.

Eligibility criteria

This trial accepts healthy volunteers

Qualifiers

Diagnosis of idiopathic scoliosis

Age ⩾18 years old

Curve severity over 10°

Fluent in English.

Disqualifiers

History of spine surgery or

History of diseases affecting the torso or lower extremity function

Surgery or trauma

Secondary scoliosis

Trial population

All adults with adult idiopathic or degenerative scoliosis consulting a surgeon. All adults from the healthy/untreated population

Trial design

Design model

Other

Time perspective

Cross-sectional

Treatments tested in this trial

  • Survey + Physical exam

    Diagnostic test

    Survey: Demographic data Pain Oswestry disability index International Physical Activity Questionnaire Scoliosis Research Society (SRS-22r) Spinal appearance questionnaire Fear Avoidance and Beliefs Questionnaire Short Orebro musculoskeletal pain questionnaire Work Ability Index Physical exam: Repeated movements (MDT) Posture ROM Neuro Updated treatment based classification tests Pathoanatomical classification tests

Treatment groups

108 Participants
are divided into 4 treatment groups
Group A: Degenerative scoliosis1 intervention
Group B: Adult idiopathic scoliosis1 intervention
Group C: Degenerative scoliosis - matched controls1 intervention
Group D: Idiopathic scoliosis - matched controls1 intervention

Trial outcomes

Primary outcomes

1

Socliosis Research Society 22-revised total score

The SRS-22r is a quality of life questionnaire which consists of 22 questions assessing 5 quality of life domains: Function, Pain, Self-Image, Mental health (5 questions), satisfaction (2 questions). Each category is rated on 5. The categories are summed and divided by 5 to have a total score on 5 points. 5 is the best score and 1 the worst

Time frame
baseline

Secondary outcomes

1

Pain intensity: Numerical rating scale

Numerical rating scale from 0 to 10 where 0 is no pain and 10 the Worst imaginable pain. The patient has to select between: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. The value will be recorded separately for thoracic pain, lumbar pain and leg pain at the best, worse and current levels over the last 24 hours. All these scores are averaged for a total score.

Time frame
baseline
2

Response to the Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy (McKenzie) exam

A repeated movement exam according to MDT will be completed to note centralisation, peripheralization , and detect directional preference. The patient will be asked to perform 10 repeated movements in flexion, extension, lateral side glides direction and the participant will be asked to report if symptoms became more proximal (centralisation), more distal (peripheralization) better or worse or if there was no change after the repetitions. The direction identified as providing centralization or the best pain response will be identified as the directional preference.

Time frame
baseline
3

Perceived appearance

The Spinal Appearance Questionnnaire (SAQ) consists of 11 pictogram questions and 12 multiple choice questions and an open question to assess the perceived appearance. A perceived appearance score (10-50) and an expectation score 4-20 will be calculated by averaging relevant items. A low score indicate good perceived appearance /50 and expectation /20.

Time frame
baseline
4

Fear avoidance related to work and physical activity

Fear Avoidance and Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ). The FABQ was developed on the basis of the assumption that fear-avoidance beliefs play a major role in LBP-related disability. It comprises 16 items scored by the patient and includes sub-scores for fear-avoidance beliefs regarding work (0-42) and physical activity (0-24). A higher score indicates more strongly held fear avoidance beliefs.

Time frame
baseline

Other outcomes

Sponsors and contacts

Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.

University of Alberta

Lead sponsor

Source ClinicalTrials.gov
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