title: Scoliosis prevalence: a call for a statement of terms.
abstract: Recently published prevalence studies of scoliosis reveal a disconcerting variability, largely due to the use of different diagnostic "cutting points", which are frequently unstated. A statistical analysis of the prevalence of moderate and severe scoliotic curves shows that the distribution of scoliotic curves conforms best to a log normal distribution. Using this analysis, and using 10 degrees as the "cutting point" for the diagnosis, the adolescent scoliosis population consists of approximately 25 per 1,000.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D012600:Scoliosis / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States