Screening for musculoskeletal problems in children using a questionnaire

Background

On April 1, 2016, the Ministerial ordinance was enforced, and musculoskeletal examination of the extremities was made mandatory. From 2008, the University of us started musculoskeletal direct examination. To expand the examination, from 2016, we started to use the marksheet-type questionnaire. This study aimed to report the results of a musculoskeletal examination and investigate the association between musculoskeletal examination and age/gender and reports the reliability of the collected questionnaire data.

Methods

Direct musculoskeletal examination was performed in K school by 7 orthopedic surgeons. A marksheet-type screening questionnaire was distributed to all the elementary and junior high school students in Tsukuba and Hitachiomiya cities. The rates of abnormal findings for scoliosis, standing flexion, full squatting with the heels on the floor, general joint laxity, and standing on one leg, torticollis, and flat feet were calculated. We compared the results of the questionnaire and direct examination and calculated sensitivity, specificity, and odds ratio.

Results

A total of 1844 students in K school had direct examination, and 22,494 questionnaires were able to correct in Tsukuba and Hitachiomiya cities. The rates of abnormal findings in direct examination/questionnaire in scoliosis, standing flexion, full squat, general joint laxity, standing on one leg, torticollis and flat foot were 18.7% (344/1842)/5.1% (1094/21441), 20.2% (372/1841)/26.6% (5817/22078), 6.2% (114/1832)/6.9% (1516/22101), 7.5% (1648/22252), 4.9% (1100/22077), 2.2% (31/1844)/1.2% (272/21687), and 12.5% (231/1842)/8.7% (1785/20871), respectively. Sensitivities of the questionnaire for scoliosis, stand flexion, full squatting, torticollis, and flat feet were 16.8% (53/316), 67.9% (250/368), 48.2% (55/114), 18.9% (7/37), and 32.2% (65/202), respectively.

Conclusion

We reported the result of musculoskeletal examination. Accuracy and reliability of this questionnaire were not satisfactory. To perform high quality musculoskeletal examinations, we will aim to increase the quality of screening methods.