Conditions related to the spine and spinal deformity often sound similar, but affect the spine in different ways. Key conditions discussed in this section include the following.
Curvature of the spine: Spine curvature can refer to two distinct conditions. The human spine normally curves, but more commonly the term "spinal curvature" refers to abnormalities from the standard spinal.
The cost of care for adults with scoliosis includes direct costs and indirect costs including lost wages, time from work, cost of care providers, and opportunity costs. Estimates of the direct costs of nonsurgical care in adult scoliosis are estimated to be as high as $14,000 per year.1
Because of the low prevalence of scoliosis in children and adolescents, analysis of the health care impact this condition causes is difficult. However, the impact of scoliosis over a lifetime in terms of pain, inability to work, and cost to the health care system are substantial.
Based on the HCUP Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) and Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) databases queried, there were an estimated 795,300 hospital discharges and emergency department visits for spinal fractures in 2010–/2011. Nearly three out of five spinal fractures occurred in women.
