Evaluating compliance with postoperative cranial remolding orthotic treatment in infants with single suture craniosynostosis: A comparative study of objective and subjective approaches.

BACKGROUND

Historically, daily hours of wearing a cranial remolding orthosis (CRO) was not objectively assessed, and the compliance to the treatment plan was evaluated subjectively through questionnaires in previous studies.

OBJECTIVE

To assess objective monitoring of the postoperative CRO in infants with single suture craniosynostosis.

STUDY

DESIGN

Prospective comparative study.

METHODS

Data collection regarding the number of hours that the CRO was worn was obtained from data recorded from the Orthotimer sensor and data recorded from the participants' parents.

RESULTS

A total of 21 individuals (11 boys and 10 girls) participated in the study. Among these 21 participants, 9 had scaphocephaly (sagittal craniosynostosis), 9 had trigonocephaly (metopic craniosynostosis), and 3 had unilateral coronal deformity (coronal craniosynostosis). A significant difference was observed in adherence to the CRO treatment between the objective and subjective methods (p<0.05). Accordingly, the compliance based on parental reports (subjective method) was significantly higher than the data recorded objectively (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION

It was found that parents tend to report higher estimates regarding the use and compliance of the CRO. Therefore, for a more accurate assessment of the hours spent wearing the CRO, the objective method is the preferred choice.