As part of her PhD at the University of Alberta, Canada, Dr. Sanja Schreiber, ISST Regional Instructor conducted the first randomized controlled trial in North America on the effect of ISST Schroth exercises in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis.  Dr. Schreiber’s work provided important evidence about the effectiveness of the ISST Schroth exercises for adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis demonstrating that ISST Schroth therapy improves curves, pain, self-image, posture, and back muscle endurance. Dr. Schreiber’s research attracted public interest, and was mentioned in The New York Times.

Concurrently, Dr. Tugba Kuru, Schroth therapist, conducted another randomized controlled trial, where she showed that supervised Schroth exercise intervention had better outcomes as compared to no treatment or unsupervised therapy, in terms of improved curves and quality of life.

These important studies on the effect of ISST Schroth have gained much interest in the world of scoliosis research and treatment and could have a big impact on treatment guidelines around the Globe, where exercise treatment is not a part of standard care.

References

Randomized controlled trials on the effect of ISST Schroth:

Schreiber S, Parent E, Hill H., Hedden D, Moreau M, Southon S. How much change in the Cobb angle is needed for the patients to observe positive change in their backs following a Schroth intervention? “SOSORT 2018 Award Winner”. Scoliosis and Spinal Disorders (2018). In print

Schreiber S, Parent EC, Doug L Hill; Douglas M Hedden; Marc Moreau; Sarah C Southon (2017) Schroth Physiotherapeutic Scoliosis-Specific Exercises for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: How Many Patients Require Treatment to Prevent One Deterioration? – Results from A Randomized Controlled Trial “SOSORT 2017 Award Winner”Scoliosis and Spinal Disorders (2017) 12:26 DOI 10.1186/s13013-017-0137-8​

Schreiber S, Parent EC, Khodayari Moez E, Hedden DM, Hill DL, Moreau M, et al. (2016) Schroth Physiotherapeutic Scoliosis-Specific Exercises Added to the Standard of Care Lead to Better Cobb Angle Outcomes in Adolescents with Idiopathic Scoliosis – an Assessor and Statistician Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial. PLoS ONE 11(12): e0168746. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0168746

Schreiber S, Parent EC, Moez EK, et al. The effect of Schroth exercises added to the standard of care on the quality of life and muscle endurance in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis—an assessor and statistician blinded randomized controlled trial: “SOSORT 2015 Award Winner.” Scoliosis. 2015;10(1):24. doi:10.1186/s13013-015-0048-5.

Kuru T, Yeldan İ, Dereli EE, Özdinçler AR, Dikici F, Çolak İ. The efficacy of three-dimensional Schroth exercises in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: a randomised controlled clinical trial. Clin Rehabil. 2016 Feb;30(2):181–90

Recent cohort studies on the effect of ISST Schroth:

Kwan KYH, Cheng ACS, Koh HY, Chiu AYY, Cheung KMC. Effectiveness of Schroth exercises during bracing in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: results from a preliminary study—SOSORT Award 2017 Winner. Scoliosis and Spinal Disorders. 2017;12:32. doi:10.1186/s13013-017-0139-6.