Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyze the ability of the patients with idiopathic scoliosis to transfer the body weight in the frontal plane.
Design: Randomized and controlled study.
Setting: A referral center and institutional practice and outpatient care.
Subjects: Fifty patients with idiopathic scoliosis (three men and forty-seven women; average age 15.3 years) and 15 normal women (average age 17.3 years) participated in this study. Thirty patients were treated with underarm braces.
Main outcome measures: Computer-assisted force plates were used to evaluate the laterally shifted weight and the time period during side-shift on sitting.
Results: During both slow and fast side-shifts, shifted weight in the patients with idiopathic scoliosis was significantly less than in the normal controls (p < 0.05). The shifted weight was less on the concave side than on the convex one. The time for the shift to the concave side was longer in the patients than in the normal controls (p < 0.05). The brace was effective in correcting the imbalance of shifted weight in the patients with idiopathic scoliosis.
Conclusions: The current study demonstrated the different patterns of weight side-shift between normal subjects and patients with idiopathic scoliosis. The patients transferred less weight laterally than the normal subjects during slow and fast random movements. The patients also showed slower side-shift patterns than the normal subjects during the fast random movement.