1. The incidence of scoliosis in persons over fifty years of age is 6 per cent.
2. In patients over fifty years, with osteoporosis or osteomalacia, the incidence is six times greater (osteoporosis 36 per cent; osteomalacia 38 per cent).
3. Scoliosis is believed to arise in the elderly. Its etiology appears to be related to the increased incidence of metabolic bone disease found in older patients.
4. Certain clinical and roentgenographic criteria differentiate elderly scoliosis from long-standing idiopathic scoliosis.