Schooliosis, a pun on "school" and "scoliosis", is a term for a type of medical misdiagnosis. The word was coined by Petr Skrabanek and James McCormick.[1]
The authors asserted that there is some degree of overdiagnosis of scoliosis in school, which causes ethical, social, and economic damage to the welfare of children.[2] Such overdiagnosis is called "schooliosis" by some academics. Schooliosis is a type of disease mongering.[3]
Preventive medical screening in school or college may lead to an incorrect diagnosis of scoliosis that triggers a series of unnecessary medical interventions on adolescents. There can be diagnostic and therapeutic cascades involving several specialists, which can end with iatrogenic damage to a healthy child with a normal back. The risks are unnecessary overexposure to X-rays (repeated diagnostic X-rays), rehabilitation techniques with side effects (traction), stigmatizing orthopaedic treatment (braces for back injury) and costs in time, travel, etc.[4]