The epidemiology of "schooliosis".

Questionnaires submitted to children subsequent to school screening for scoliosis reveal that 13% of respondents recall being referred to a physician. This rate is considerably higher than the 3% referral rate reported by school health officials. The discrepancy points to misperceptions by students and their parents as a likely cause of "schooliosis, " a condition which brings a flood of normal children into the offices of orthopaedists and pediatricians. Correcting possible communications problems, rather than blaming the screening program, should ease the over-referral phenomenon and allow screening to continue at its present efficient levels.