Marriage and Childbirth of Patients Who Were Surgically and Non-surgically Treated for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: a Survey at the Age of 30 years or Older

Purpose: We aimed to investigate the marital status and childbirth in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients.

Methods: This study included women who were treated surgically or non-surgically for AIS with a scoliosis magnitude ≥ 30° before surgery or at skeletal maturity and were followed up until age 30 years or older. Patients were divided into surgically treated (S-AIS, n = 55) and non-surgically treated AIS groups (N-AIS, n = 86). Data from the national fertility survey were used as control values.

Results: There were no significant differences in age at the final follow-up between the S- (40.7 years) and N-AIS (42.1 years) groups. The unmarried rate among all women and the nulliparous rate among married women in the S-AIS group (29.1% and 18.4%, respectively) were similar to those in the N-AIS group (26.7% and 16.1%, respectively). The mean number of children per married woman also did not differ between the S- and N-AIS groups (1.5 vs 1.4). Compared to the control group, after adjusting for age, the common odds ratio in the AIS group was 1.56 (p = 0.031) for unmarried status and 1.88 (p = 0.026) for nulliparity among married women. Moreover, the mean number of children per married woman was significantly lower in the AIS group than in the control group (1.3 vs 1.7, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Surgically and non-surgically treated women with AIS had a similar status with regard to marriage and childbirth, while women with AIS were more likely to be unmarried and nulliparous and to have fewer children compared to the nationwide population.