Is There a Relationship between Idiopathic Scoliosis and Body Mass? A Scoping Review

Abstract

The etiopathogenesis of idiopathic scoliosis remains unknown, although genetic or hereditary factors, neurological disorders, hormonal and metabolic dysfunctions, biomechanical factors, and environmental factors seem to be involved. Several studies have found that patients with scoliosis have common characteristics of taller stature, lower body mass index (BMI), and low systemic bone mass. We conducted a scoping review to analyze the association between idiopathic scoliosis and BMI. The search for articles was performed on PubMed and Cochrane, including the English language, full-text and free-full-text articles published from 31 December 2011 to 31 December 2021. Most of the results analyzed are in favor of a relationship between low BMI and scoliosis. Having a low BMI could be associated with the presence of scoliosis, although the reason for which is still doubtful. However, further large-scale epidemiological studies on different ethnicities and a comparison of BMI with the healthy population will be needed to better define the correlation between BMI and scoliosis.