![]() ![]() The patient and their family suffer emotionally, incurring significant financial burden while fearing the future. The impact of lack of awareness and delayed care extends beyond physical challenges. Inequities abound in scoliosis care and research. Improving workforce diversity is an important facet of addressing health disparities and shaping research agendas. The dearth of senior women role models and mentors is a further barrier for career advancement and retention.įurthermore, research funding for diseases, such as scoliosis, that mainly affect females has historically lagged far behind funding for male-predominant diseases. Glass-ceiling effects surround women surgeons in this male-dominated culture, perpetuating gendered training environments, being held to higher standards and earning lower wages. Ongoing gender disparities in the healthcare workforce and lack of research funding for this female-predominant condition continue to hamper effective action.įewer than five per cent of spinal surgeons identify as women. Because of regional variability in resources such as access to spinal surgeons, funding and specialized facilities, some kids, like Cael, wait even longer, experiencing physical, emotional and psychological burdens, while their curves get progressively worse.ĭelayed surgery in Canada cost the health-care system $44.6 million due to more complex surgeries, extended hospital stays, readmission and re-operation rates. Those without insurance often cannot afford surgery at all.īut even with Canada’s universal coverage, patients typically wait an entire year for surgery due to a shortage of providers. leads to varying out-of-pocket expenses for patients. While Canada’s health-care system covers spinal fusion for severe scoliosis, the lack of a national insurance program in the U.S. Those with public insurance tend to have worse spine curvatures by the time they reach a scoliosis specialist this is particularly striking among Black patients with public insurance, who are 67 per cent less likely to be diagnosed at a stage early enough for effective brace treatment compared to Black patients with private insurance. Patients with better insurance plans tend to seek pediatric orthopedic care at a younger age. ![]() is influenced by a range of factors including race, income and health insurance coverage. Consequently, when children with scoliosis eventually reach specialists for care, they may encounter challenges navigating the health-care system as they transition into adulthood. The general lack of global awareness leaves physicians, nurses and other practitioners unaware of effective treatments and referral processes, contributing to the misunderstanding and under-treatment of patients. Shockingly, 32 per cent of Canadian children, like Cael, face delayed referrals, discovering significant curves when they finally see specialists.ĭespite documented success in managing scoliosis through early screening, exercise rehabilitation and brace treatment, global health-care education often neglects this condition. The recommended care in North America involves bracing for mild to moderate curves (25° to 45°) and surgery for curves exceeding 45°. With about 30 per cent of cases being hereditary, parents may not recognize the signs early on. Pediatricians’ screening practices vary, and some cases of scoliosis in children are only discovered when an unrelated chest X-ray reveals a curved spine. Even worse, Canada discontinued screening back in 1979 because it was not considered cost-effective. In the United States, fewer than half of states legislate school-based scoliosis screening in children. This general lack of awareness has serious implications for thousands of people like Cael. ![]() It also receives limited attention in clinical and public health education, leading to significant gaps in health care. Despite its widespread prevalence, scoliosis often goes undiagnosed, or has delayed diagnosis as in Cael’s case. In clinical care, research and education related to scoliosis, disparities persist worldwide. On the other end of the age spectrum, a staggering two-thirds of older adults are also affected. Of all types of scoliosis in children, adolescent idiopathic scoliosis is the most prevalent, accounting for as many as nine in 10 cases and impacting up to one in 20 adolescents globally. Scoliosis is an abnormal twisting and curving of the spine that can develop at any age, but mostly occurs during rapid growth spurts in children, and as part of spine aging in adults over the age of 60. “I felt like the Hunchback of Notre Dame,” Cael told CBC News, recalling the emotionally draining and gruesome two-year wait for spinal surgery during which his curve progressed to a whopping 108 degrees. Cael was a typical 15-year-old - until the discovery of an already advanced abnormal curvature of his spine. ![]()
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