Patient perspective on adjunctive treatment for early onset scoliosis

Treating early onset scoliosis (EOS) presents unique and complex challenges due to patients' young age, high risk for progression, and complications with surgical treatment. The purpose of this study was to examine families' behavior and motivation in pursuing adjunctive treatments for EOS.

This was a cross-sectional multicenter study. Inclusion criteria: patients with a diagnosis of EOS. A questionnaire was given to patients' families during outpatient visits. Descriptive statistics and a Chi-square test were used for analysis. Questions included if any adjunctive treatments were used, reasons for use, and whether the respondent would use them again.

72 patients (mean age at diagnosis, 3.5 ± 3.5 years) from 4 pediatric centers participated in the study. 39 (54.2%) used at least one method of adjunctive treatment, resulting in a total of 72 adjunctive treatment instances. Among all participants, the most used adjunctive treatments were physical therapy (n = 32, 44.4%), shoe lift/insert (n = 12, 16.7%), massage (n = 8, 11.1%), Schroth (n = 4, 5.6%), chiropractic manipulation (n = 3, 4.2%), and cupping (n = 2, 2.8%). The most common response to open ended questions on motivation for pursuing adjunctive treatment was following the prescription or recommendation of a physical therapist or pediatrician (21.4%, n = 6), preventing curve progression (21.4%, n = 6), and managing pain or provide comfort (17.9%, n = 5). Of the 39 patients, 92.3% would choose to use adjunctive therapy again.

A majority of patients with EOS surveyed used adjunctive treatments. The most common treatments were physical therapy, shoe-lift and massage. Over 90% of families would choose to use adjunctive treatments again.

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