Treatment of idiopathic scoliosis with conservative methods based on exercises: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Vanja Dimitrijević; Bojan Rašković; Miroslav Popović; Dejan Viduka; Siniša Nikolić; Patrik Drid; Borislav Obradović

doi:10.3389/fspor.2024.1492241

Treatment of idiopathic scoliosis with conservative methods based on exercises: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Front Sports Act Living. 2024 Dec 23:6:1492241. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1492241. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Vanja Dimitrijević¹, Bojan Rašković¹, Miroslav Popović², Dejan Viduka³, Siniša Nikolić^{4

5}, Patrik Drid¹, Borislav Obradović¹

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Sports and Physical Education, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.
² Technical Faculty, Singidunum University, Belgrade, Serbia.
³ Faculty of Applied Management, Economics, and Finance in Belgrade, University of Business Academy, Novi Sad, Serbia.
⁴ Department of Paediatric Rehabilitation, Dr Miroslav Zotovic Institute for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
⁵ Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Banja Luka, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Abstract

Introduction: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to systematically assess the effect size of conservative methods based on exercise for respondents with idiopathic scoliosis.

Methods: This study was developed in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. The PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases were searched in May 2023. The key search terms were "Idiopathic scoliosis", "Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis", "Cobb angle", "Angle of trunk rotation", "Quality of life", "Schroth method", and "Core stabilization exercises". Risk of bias was assessed for each randomized trial using the Cochrane risk of bias tool, and the methodological index for non-randomized studies. The outcomes included Cobb angle, angle of trunk rotation (ATR), forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), and quality of life (QoL). R 4.0.5 software was used, and standardized mean differences (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for continuous outcomes using a random model.

Results: In total, 23 studies were included. Depending on the outcome measured, the effect size of the different methods in the treatment of idiopathic scoliosis ranged from small to large as follows: Cobb angle (SMD = -0.43, p < 0.0001), ATR (SMD = -0.25, p = 0.06), FVC (SMD = 0.48, p = 0.03), FEV1 (SMD = 0.51, p = 0.004), and QoL (SMD = 0.95, p < 0.0001).

Conclusion: Our meta-analysis indicates the positive effects of applying conservative methods based on therapeutic exercises on patients with idiopathic scoliosis.

Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=373554, PROSPERO (CRD42022373554).

Keywords: ATR; Cobb angle; conservative methods; idiopathic scoliosis; meta-analysis.

Publication types

Systematic Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was supported by the Provincial Secretariat for Higher Education and Scientific Research of AP Vojvodina (grant number: 142-451-2595).