Outcomes of Compliance With Brace Wear in Clubfoot
Outcomes of Compliance With Brace Wear in Clubfoot
It has been shown that compliance with brace wear can significantly improve the treatment
 outcome of idiopathic clubfoot deformities. Noncompliance rates have been estimated to be
 around 30-41% with initial orthosis wear after successful treatment with serial castings.
 These studies have depended on family logs and not objective data. With the development of a
 monitoring device, this study hopes to examine: (1) actual patient compliance, (2)
 comparisons of actual wear time and assumed wear time and (3) the relationship of patient
 wear with clinical outcomes.

 Hypothesis:

 Actual patient compliance in foot abduction orthoses (FAO) wear is less than self-reported
 compliance and noncompliance is correlated to future surgeries.
It is necessary that treatment teams avoid making any assumptions about patient compliance.
 This study will objectively measure brace wear-rate in patients with clubfoot that have
 already been prescribed a foot ankle orthosis. The use of a monitoring device will be able to
 give objective data on actual patient compliance with brace wear. It is hypothesized that
 objective compliance data will allow physicians to better assess the patient's therapy
 progress and outcome, troubleshoot problems or issues associated with barriers to brace wear,
 and better educate families confronted with having a child with clubfoot. Long term goals
 will then attempt to determine whether certain brace designs can increase wear time thus
 decreasing the rate of clubfoot recurrence.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Unilateral or bilateral clubfoot

 -  Birth to 3 years of age

 -  Has been successfully treated with Ponseti casting protocol

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Any other prior treatment for clubfoot

 -  Other existing diagnoses or conditions