Mid and lower thoracic kyphosis changes during adulthood: the influence of age, sex and thoracic coronal curvature.

INTRODUCTION: There is conflicting data on how thoracic kyphosis changes throughout adulthood. We evaluated mid and lower thoracic kyphosis (MTK) in various age groups and the influence of age, sex and coronal curve (CC) on MTK. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We studied 1323 patients 15-80 years-old (54.4% females) previously evaluated with chest radiographs. We established three groups: patients 15-40 (group 1); 41-60 (group 2) and 61-80 years old (group 3). MTK (T5-T12) and CC were measured using Cobb's method. We established differences in MTK between groups using ANOVA with Bonferroni correction. We performed a correlation analysis of MTK with age and CC, and a linear regression analysis to determine if age, sex and CC independently predicted MTK. RESULTS: MTK increased with older age: mean MTK group 1 = 23.4°; group 2 = 27.9° and group 3 = 34.4°, p < 0.01. The increase in MTK was observed in both genders. Scoliosis was more common in females (15.4%) than in males (6.7%), p < 0.01. MTK was correlated with age (r = 0.4; p < 0.01) and slightly correlated with CC (r = 0.07, p < 0.01). MTK was larger in females than in males (29.1° vs. 27.6°, p < 0.01). Age (ß-coefficient = 0.26) and CC (ß-coefficient = 0.14), but not sex, independently influenced MTK in the regression analysis. CONCLUSION: MTK increases with advancing age during adulthood in both genders; CC, but not sex, was an independent predictor of MTK.

Orthopedic surgery residents' perception of online education in their programs during the COVID-19 pandemic: should it be maintained after the crisis?

Background and purpose - During the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the teaching centers in Chile have shifted to online resources. We decided to do a survey on orthopedic residents regarding this type of education to assess for strengths and weaknesses of digital education in orthopedic programs.Methods - A survey was performed targeting 110 orthopedic residents belonging to different training programs around the country. 100 residents completed the survey.Results - 86% stated that their programs are using online education. When asked in detail, 86% had been involved in webinars, 28% had received online presentations, 12% had participated in online tests, and 7% had evaluated patients. Webinars were rated (1 = very unsatisfactory, 10 = very satisfactory) with a mean grade of 8.1 (1-10), online presentations 7.3 (1-10), online tests 3.8 (1-8), and online patient evaluations 2.9 (1-9). When asked if, after the end of the pandemic, they would continue using the online modalities, 82% would continue attending webinars, 72% would continue watching online presentations, 27% would continue performing online tests, and 33% of the residents would continue performing online evaluations of patients.Interpretation - Even though resident evaluation of online activities is positive, face-to-face theoretical activities are still valued as a necessary complement for orthopedic residency education.

Scheuermann's disease in patients 15-40 years old: A study to determine its prevalence and its relationship with age and sex using chest radiographs as screening tool.

BACKGROUND: There is insufficient knowledge of the epidemiology of Scheuermann's disease. The data available comes from estimations from young adults with obvious deformity, from studies evaluating children who may not have developed the deformity yet, or from older populations who can develop vertebral wedging secondary to other causes. We aimed to determine the prevalence of Scheuermann's disease in patients 15-40 years old using plain chest radiographs as a screening tool. METHODS: We evaluated 454 patients aged 15-40 years old studied using standing plain chest radiographs. We measured thoracic kyphosis from T5 to T12; using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), we determined inter- and intra-observer agreement. To determine the prevalence of Scheuermann's disease we used the Sorensen criteria. We performed a correlation analysis of thoracic kyphosis and age, and a linear regression to determine the impact of age and sex on the kyphosis angle. RESULTS: The prevalence of Scheuermann's disease was 2.2% (0.9-3.5%). The prevalence was not different in females (1.4%) and males (2.8%), p = 0.36. Inter-and intra-observer agreements were excellent: ICC = 0.93 (0.84-0.97) and 0.97 (0.95-0.98). There was a small positive correlation of kyphosis angle with age (r = 0.110; p = 0.019). Linear regression revealed that age (ß = 0.138; p = 0.019) was an independent predictor of kyphosis angle, but sex was not (ß-coefficient = 0.007; p = 0.994). CONCLUSION: We found a prevalence of Scheuermann's disease of 2.2%, without significant differences between males and females. Age independently influenced the kyphosis angle; sex did not. This study allows a better understanding of the epidemiology of Scheuermann's disease.

Interculturalidad en salud: competencias en prácticas de salud con población indígena / Intercultuality in health: competence in health practices with indigenous poplaation

Este artículo pretende discutir y reflexionar en torno a la manera en la cual los servicios del sistema de salud inmersos en territorios con alta presencia de comunidades mapuche, se adecuan a la idiosincrasia cultural de esta población, abordando cuáles son las dificultades con que los servicios de salud se encuentran a la hora de ejercer la práctica de atención de salud en contextos pluriétnicos, en donde la salud es entendida de forma ho-lística, llevando necesariamente a una visión epidemiológica distinta, incorporando las categorías y etiologías de enfermedad desde el punto de vista de la población de diferente cultura.

This article tries to discuss and to reflect upon the way in which the immersed health system services in territories with high Mapuche presence are adapted to the cultural idiosyncrasy of this population, approaching which are the difficulties the services of health meet at the moment of exercising the health practice in multiethnic context, where the health is understood in an holistic way, leading necessarily to a different epidemiological vision, incorporating the categories and etiologies of disease from the different population culture point of view.