Spinal deformities in school-aged children: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Spinal deformities represent a group of conditions characterized by abnormalities in spinal alignment. The primary manifestations include impaired postural alignment accompanied by various clinical complaints. Acquisition and analysis of new data aimed at prevention of spinal deformities in children remain relevant. AIM: To investigate the prevalence of different types of postural disorders in school-aged children and to evaluate their association with clinical manifestations of spinal deformities. METHODS: A prospective cross-sectional study included 3505 school-aged children who underwent sanatorium treatment at the Children’s Sanatorium Bykovo of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia between 2020 and 2025. Of these, 405 children meeting inclusion criteria were selected and divided into two subgroups: younger school age (7–10 years) and middle school age (11–14 years). Sagittal spinal curvature was classified according to Staffel; deviations in the frontal plane were described as scoliotic posture or scoliosis. Characteristic complaints associated with spinal deformities were assessed using a questionnaire. Significance was evaluated using Student t test and Pearson χ² test, with p 0.05 considered significant. RESULTS: No signs of spinal deformities were identified in 60 children (14.8%). In the first subgroup (n=161), deviations in the sagittal (47.8%) and frontal (52.2%) planes occurred with similar frequency. In the second subgroup (n=184), frontal plane deviations were more common (64.1%; p=0.025). Increased lumbar lordosis was associated with obesity in 90.7% of cases (p 0.001). Scoliosis occurred twice as often in the second subgroup (32.8%; p=0.012). Combined sagittal and frontal plane deviations were observed in 27.2% of cases. Complaints characteristic of spinal deformities were reported by 47.8% of children and were twice as frequent in the second subgroup (63.6%; p 0.001). The most common complaint in both subgroups (52.6%) was reduced physical activity level. CONCLUSION: Scoliotic posture is more frequently observed in older school-aged children. Scoliosis is typically preceded by sagittal spinal deviations. Obesity appears to be one of the contributing factors to lumbar hyperlordosis. Postural disorders are associated with decreased physical activity in approximately one-quarter of affected children.