School sheening for musculo-skeletal deformities in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia

Abstract EN

-Patients with advanced musculo-skeletal deformities are seen fre^ently in orthopaedic clinics in Saudi Arabia.

Early detection and treatment, combine،؛ with public health education, would prevent this situation.

In this study 26,662 school children from 28 schools in four districts of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia were screened for musculo-skeletal deformities by pur-' screeners.

Supervision of these screeners and quality control visits was undertaken by consult-ants.

630 children (2.4 %) with 847 musculo-skeletal disorders were identified and referred for specialists’ re-evaluation.

Of these disorders 155 (18.3 %) were clinically significant: 18 kyphoses, 66 scolioses, 23 with limp, 11 club feet,elbow and 16 finger deformities..

This prevalence of musculo-skeletal disorders high-lights the need for large-scale screening.

We therefore recommend that this becomes routine for school chil-dren, and that regional screening teams be established-