The objective measurement of spinal orthosis use for the treatment of XXXX .

@entity1 @entity1615
STUDY DESIGN: Technology development and prospective study. OBJECTIVES: Develop instrumentation for discrete, reliable, and objective measurement of brace use patterns between routine follow-ups and without @entity1 involvement. BACKGROUND DATA: To understand spinal bracing efficacy and clinical effectiveness in the conservative treatment of @entity1615 , it is essential to measure and record such confounding variables as spinal physiology, force distribution, and compliance. Historically, compliance was measured using @entity1 interviews, pad/strap forces, or temperature. These measurements were subjective, limited to laboratory or short-term monitoring only, required @entity1 intervention, or lacked date/time recording. METHODS: Custom-fitted nonperforated thoracic lumbar sacral orthoses were instrumented with discrete data loggers to measure and record temperature at the skin-brace interface at 16-minute date/time-stamped intervals for up to 88-day periods without @entity1 involvement. Ten female @entity1 (age 15 years, SD 1.2) with @entity1615 who had spinal bracing as part of their treatment regimen took part in the study over 14 months, SD 4.5 months. RESULTS: Compliance with the treatment regimen ranged from 8% to 90%, average 65%. @entity1 tended to overestimate their compliance by 150% (SD 50%). There was no significant difference between weekday and weekend compliance but wear patterns differed. Night wear was significantly greater than day wear (P < 0.01). @entity1 with very good compliance only removed their brace for washing or exercise periods, but where poor compliance was evident, the brace was only worn sporadically during the day. CONCLUSIONS: Temperature provides a clear signal of the time in brace and can be used for long-term data logging using discrete instrumentation, providing a tool to help identify and understand the reasons behind poor compliance.
