Schooliosis, a pun on "school

School

A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

" and "scoliosis

Scoliosis

Scoliosis is a medical condition in which a person's spine is curved from side to side. Although it is a complex three-dimensional deformity, on an X-ray, viewed from the rear, the spine of an individual with scoliosis may look more like an "S" or a "C" than a straight line...

", is a term for a type of medical misdiagnosis. The word was coined by Petr Skrabanek

Petr Skrabanek

Petr Skrabanek was a leading doctor and professor of medicine. Author of several books and numerous articles, he was considered a leading scientist...

 and James McCormick.

The authors asserted that there is some degree of overdiagnosis

Overdiagnosis

Overdiagnosis is the diagnosis of "disease" that will never cause symptoms or death during a patient's lifetime. Overdiagnosis is the least familiar side effect of testing for early forms of disease – and, arguably, the most important...

 of scoliosis

Scoliosis

Scoliosis is a medical condition in which a person's spine is curved from side to side. Although it is a complex three-dimensional deformity, on an X-ray, viewed from the rear, the spine of an individual with scoliosis may look more like an "S" or a "C" than a straight line...

 in school, which causes ethical, social and economic damage to the welfare of children.
Such overdiagnosis is called "schooliosis" by some academics. Schooliosis is a type of disease mongering

Disease mongering

]Disease mongering is a pejorative term for the practice of widening the diagnostic boundaries of illnesses, and promoting public awareness of such, in order to expand the markets for those who sell and deliver treatments, which may include pharmaceutical companies, physicians, and other...

.

After preventive activity in school or college, it can lead to incorrect diagnosis

Diagnosis

Diagnosis is the identification of the nature and cause of anything. Diagnosis is used in many different disciplines with variations in the use of logics, analytics, and experience to determine the cause and effect relationships...

 of scoliosis that triggers a series of unnecessary medical interventions on adolescents. There can be diagnostic and therapeutic cascades

Cascade effect

A Cascade Effect is an unforeseen chain of events due to an act affecting a system. If there is a possibility that the cascade effect will have a negative impact on the system, it is possible to analyze the effects with a consequence/impact analysis...

 involving several specialists, which can end with iatrogenic damage on a healthy child with normal back. The risks are unnecessary overexposure to X-rays (repeated x-ray diagnostic), rehabilitation techniques with side effects (traction), stigmatizing orthopaedic treatment (braces for back injury) and time costs, travel, etc.

The child's family lives in anguish information received school routine examination, and forces him to find the diagnosis and treatments that cure. But this process can bring more complications than benefits, limiting the physical and mental development of children, to be conditioned by the multitude of health interventions to which it is subjected.

See also

• Disease mongering
  Disease mongering
  ]Disease mongering is a pejorative term for the practice of widening the diagnostic boundaries of illnesses, and promoting public awareness of such, in order to expand the markets for those who sell and deliver treatments, which may include pharmaceutical companies, physicians, and other...
  
  
• False positive
• Healthism
  Healthism
  Healthism, sometimes called public-healthism, is a neologism to describe a variety of ideological constructs concerning health and medicine. The term ‘healthism’ was most likely first used by the political economist Robert Crawford, whose article ‘Healthism and the medicalization of everyday life’...
  
  
• Medicalization
  Medicalization
  Medicalization is the process by which human conditions and problems come to be defined and treated as medical conditions and problems, and thus come under the authority of doctors and other health professionals to study, diagnose, prevent or treat...
  
  
• Overdiagnosis
  Overdiagnosis
  Overdiagnosis is the diagnosis of "disease" that will never cause symptoms or death during a patient's lifetime. Overdiagnosis is the least familiar side effect of testing for early forms of disease – and, arguably, the most important...
  
  
• Patient education
  Patient education
  Patient education is the process by which health professionals and others impart information to patients that will alter their health behaviors or improve their health status...
  
  
• Petr Skrabanek
  Petr Skrabanek
  Petr Skrabanek was a leading doctor and professor of medicine. Author of several books and numerous articles, he was considered a leading scientist...
  
  
• School
  School
  A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
  
  
• Scoliosis
  Scoliosis
  Scoliosis is a medical condition in which a person's spine is curved from side to side. Although it is a complex three-dimensional deformity, on an X-ray, viewed from the rear, the spine of an individual with scoliosis may look more like an "S" or a "C" than a straight line...
  
  
• Screening (medicine)
  Screening (medicine)
  Screening, in medicine, is a strategy used in a population to detect a disease in individuals without signs or symptoms of that disease. Unlike what generally happens in medicine, screening tests are performed on persons without any clinical sign of disease....