Evaluation of quality of life in children and adolescents during treatment with Rigo – Cheneau type braces using the Russian version of the Brace Questionnaire

Introduction Special questionnaires recommended by SOSORT are used to study the quality of life (QoL) of children and adolescents undergoing brace treatment for scoliosis. One of them is the Brace Questionnaire (BrQ) which has undergone the stage of linguistic and cultural adaptation and validation in the Russian language.

Aim To reveal groups of patients with scoliosis requiring special attention during brace treatment using the BrQ which was validated in Russia.

Methods 405 patients that wore braces were surveyed with the automated BrQ. Changes in the domains and the overall quality of life score were statistically analyzed based on gender, age, duration of brace wear, and daily brace wear time. In 325 individuals, changes were tracked based on the magnitude of the main scoliotic curve.

Results Boys showed statistically significantly higher scores in the "Vitality" (p = 0.05) and "Bodily Pain" (p = 0.03) domains. A main trend was identified: a decrease in domain scores and the overall QoL score with increasing age, duration of brace wear, and magnitude of the main curve. Statistically significant differences in various domains were found between the study groups for these parameters. The dependence of scores on the daily brace wear time was their growth.

Discussion The identified trends in changes of domain scores and the overall QoL score in regard to increase in age, duration of brace wear, daily wear time, and the magnitude of the main curve are consistent with scientific literature data.

Conclusion Determination of the significance of differences revealed groups of patients requiring special attention during brace treatment for scoliosis. These are girls who have a lower QoL level in the "Emotional Functioning" and "Social Functioning" domains; middle and senior school-age children who show a decrease in the "General Health Perception", "Bodily Pain", "Self-Esteem and Esthetics", and "Social Functioning" domains. These are patients who wore a brace for 4 years or more: the "General Health Perception", "Emotional Functioning", and "Self-Esteem and Esthetics" domains decrease; and for the "Bodily Pain" domain, pain increased already after 2–3 years of brace use. A special group of patients are those who at the initial stage of brace wear had the lowest Quality of Life (QoL) scores. High grades of scoliosis significantly reduce the scores in the domains such as "General Health Perception", "Vitality", and "School Activity", while the "Social Activity" domain score is reduced with a curve more than 50º.

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