MATERIALS AND METHODS: This observational study recruited 50 patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis who were 12 to 18 years of age with Cobb angle >10°. Based on Pearson correlation coefficient, radiographic parameters such as coracoid height difference (CHD), clavicle rib intersection distance (CRID), clavicle angle (CA), clavicle chest cage angle difference (CCAD), and T1 tilt angle were evaluated in correlation with clinical shoulder and neck balance by difference of inner shoulder height (SHi), difference of outer shoulder height (SHo), and neck tilt angle.
RESULTS: SHi was moderately correlated with T1 tilt angle (r [hereafter] = 0.45), CA (0.47), and CHD (0.57), high-moderately correlated with CRID (0.64), very-highly correlated with CCAD (0.84). SHo was moderately correlated with T1 tilt angle (0.43), highly correlated with CHD (0.60), CA (0.63), and CRID (0.72), and very-highly correlated with CCAD (0.89). T1 tilt angle was high-moderately correlated with neck tilt angle (0.76). The correlation coefficients between clinical and radiographic shoulder and neck balance according to sex, BMI, type of main curve, severity of main curve did not change significantly.
CONCLUSION: There was a very high correlation between SHo (shoulder tilt) and CCAD (0.89); the correlation between SHo and CRID was high-moderate (0.72), but CRID is easier than CCAD to evaluate on radiographs. On the other hand, T1 tilt angle, which is the easiest radiographic parameter to evaluate, had a high-moderate correlation with neck tilt angle (0.76) but a moderate correlation with SHo (0.43).
METHOD: A survey was designed and administered to 110 speech-language pathologists across Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The survey contained 60 questions on current practices and knowledge of existing resources for assessing and treating multilingual children with developmental language disorder. Data were analysed to identify relationships between practices and demographic variables including country of origin, years of service, and speech-language pathologists' multilingual status.
RESULT: Current practices reveal little knowledge and/or use of standardised tests for developmental language disorder across countries, but relatively high self-perceived competence when working with multilingual clients for Indonesia and Malaysia. However, several challenges were perceived across the board in practice with multilingual children, including socioeconomic challenges (i.e. costs involved for families and social status), insufficient training on the relevant topics, and limited access to appropriate tools and resources in their current practice.
CONCLUSION: Findings suggest the need for training and appropriate assessment tools to ensure the adoption of evidence-based service delivery for multilingual caseloads, minimising misclassification of developmental language disorder and boosting confidence levels in speech-language pathologists in Southeast Asia.