A 5-year epidemiological study on the prevalence rate of idiopathic scoliosis in Tokyo: school screening of more than 250,000 children

The majority of the curves fell in the range of 10°-19°. There was a slight increase in the prevalence rates of children with a curve of high magnitude (≥20°) as compared to the prevalence rate in 1988. We suggest that school screening for scoliosis is effective for early detection; however, it is first necessary to review and optimize the target groups.