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The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 80:1083 (1998)
© 1998 The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc.

Correspondence

Correspondence

Malcolm L. Ecker, M.D., Nanni J. Allington, M.D. and J. Richard Bowen, M.D.

TO THE EDITOR:

In "Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: Treatment with the Wilmington Brace. A Comparison of Full-Time and Part-Time Use" (78-A: 1056–1062, July 1996), Allington and Bowen concluded that there is no significant difference between full-time and part-time use of the brace with regard to progression of the curve. While this may be true, I believe that their paper has several flaws that impair the scientific validity of their argument.

First, the authors only included compliant patients but never defined compliance or how they determined that the patients were compliant. Many of us who manage a large number of adolescent patients who have scoliosis believe that such patients tend to overstate the time spent in the brace when reporting to the treating physician. Allington and Bowen did not indicate how many patients were excluded for non-compliance. A treatment with which only 50 per cent of the patients are able to comply . . . [Full Text of this Article]


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