Parental noncompliance with Pavlik harness treatment of infantile hip problems.

This study reviews use of the Pavlik harness from the parents' perspective. Questionnaires were answered by the parents of 32 children who had been treated with a Pavlik harness for congenital hip problems. Of 27 patients who were initially treated by the authors, only the parents of two children claimed that they followed the physicians's orders exactly. However, only one of the four treatment failures could be directly attributed to parental noncompliance. Specific problems with the harness such as bathing, inability to fit into car seats, and clothing led to the noncompliance in many cases. There was no relationship between the parents' age, financial background, or education and their compliance.