STUDY DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. OBJECTIVE: To assess whether monitoring increases brace-wearing compliance in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Noncompliance is a barrier to brace treatment of AIS. Studies have demonstrated that monitoring improves medication compliance; however, this has not been investigated in spinal braces. METHODS: Twenty-one patients (mean age 12.4 +/- 2.0 years) with AIS were prescribed treatment with a custom-made Thoraco-Lumbo-Sacral-Orthosis for 18 hours a day using a standardized script. Before beginning treatment, 10 patients were randomized to be informed that their compliance was monitored, whereas 11 patients were unaware. Compliance was measured via a temperature probe embedded within the Thoraco-Lumbo-Sacral-Orthosis hidden from view. RESULTS: Patients who were notified that they had a monitor in their brace demonstrated significantly increased compliance during the first 14 weeks of treatment compared with those who were uninformed (85.7% versus 56.5%, p = 0.029), corresponding to a mean difference of 5.24 hours of daily brace wear. CONCLUSION: Electronic monitoring can improve compliance with orthoses in patients with spinal deformity during a short observation period.
For more information on this journal, please visit http://www.lww.com.

Full text (sometimes free) may be available at these link(s):      help

• DOI
• PubMed
• PDF locator
• publisher