Evaluation of a new apparatus combining a mobile device and hand-held roller for the detection of spinal deformities: association with the sum of the right and left angles of trunk inclination

Shizuo Jimbo, Mitsuru Imai, Yuji Atsuta, Tetsuya Kobayashi, Issei Senoo, Hiroshi Ito

August 2020, Volume 29, Issue 8, pp 1993 - 1999 Original Article Read Full Article 10.1007/s00586-020-06492-7

First Online: 10 June 2020

Evaluation of a new apparatus combining a mobile device and hand-held roller for the detection of spinal deformities: association with the sum of the right and left angles of trunk inclination

Purpose

To investigate the intra- and inter-observer reliabilities of the newly developed i-Scolioroller for scoliosis screening, and to determine the optimal i-Scolioroller measurement cutoff values for identifying adolescent scoliosis with a Cobb angle ≥ 20°.

Methods

The i-Scolioroller displays the right- and left-side maximum inclination angle (Rmax, Lmax) during the forward bending test (FBT), as well as the angle of trunk inclination (ATI, i.e., whether the Rmax or Lmax is greater). Sum-ATI is defined as the sum of Rmax and Lmax. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) of the ATI and sum-ATI measurements were calculated to analyze the intra- and inter-observer reliabilities for 10 plaster torsos in FBT positions obtained from patients with idiopathic scoliosis. The optimal cutoff values for scoliosis were determined using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis of i-Scolioroller measurements versus Cobb angles obtained from the upright whole-spine radiographs of 112 adolescent outpatients.

Results

The intra-observer ICCs for the ATI/sum-ATI for 3 observers were 0.851/0.856, 0.786/0.900, and 0.772/0.796, respectively, while the corresponding inter-observer ICCs for all participants were 0.733/0.745. On ROC analysis, an ATI of 8° was the optimal cutoff value for scoliosis (sensitivity and specificity: 79.2% and 70.0%, respectively). The optimal cutoff value for sum-ATI was 11° (sensitivity and specificity: 86.1% and 82.5%, respectively). The areas under the ROC curves were 0.859 for ATI and 0.908 for sum-ATI.

Conclusion

The optimal cutoff values for identifying scoliosis using the i-Scolioroller were a combination of 11° for the sum-ATI and 8° for the ATI.

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