Left handedness and spine deformities in early adolescence.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between laterality and spine deformities in early adolescence, with special reference to sex differences. Interviews, anthropometric measurements and clinical examinations of body posture were carried out on a sample of 2546 schoolchildren, aged from 11 to 14 years, in seven elementary schools in the centre of Belgrade. Possible confounding factors (age, sex, body weight and body height) were controlled for. The overall prevalence of spine deformities (scoliosis and/or thoracic hyperkyphosis) in the investigated population was 11.8%, out of which there were 7.8% adolescents with scoliosis, 4.0% with thoracic hyperkyphosis, and 0.3% with both spine deformities. The prevalence of scoliosis was 2.7 times higher in girls compared to boys (11.7% vs. 4.3%) while the prevalence of thoracic hyperkyphosis was 1,6 higher among boys (5.0% vs. 3.2%). We found 7.6% of the schoolchildren examined to be left-handed. Left handedness was significantly related to scoliosis in girls (crude OR = 1.60 and 95% confidence interval = 1.01-2.54). Multivariate analysis showed that significant independent factors for scoliosis were female sex (p < 0.001), age (p = 0.01) and left handedness (p = 0.02). We did not find any appreciable relation between left handedness and thoracic hyperkyphosis in both sexes.