Disease-specific Knowledge in Conservative Treatment of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis

Background The typical onset of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis falls in a sensitive stage of life. Nevertheless, conservative brace treatment requires a high degree of compliance. Disease-specific knowledge influences therapy outcome in many diseases and potentially improves patient compliance and quality of life. We analysed disease-specific knowledge and quality of life of patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Methods Scoliosis patients (n = 67) undergoing conservative brace treatment were asked to answer a questionnaire with items about scoliosis-specific knowledge. This was anonymous and prior to regular interviews and examinations. The scoliosis-research-society-22 r score was determined in order to assess quality of life. Results The major sources of information for the patients were the attending physicians and the world wide web. The majority stated that they understood the nature of scoliosis, although their answers to more detailed questions revealed a major lack of knowledge. A significant gap in provision of information was found, especially in the field of therapy regimen and treatment goals. The expected duration of the therapy was unclear to most patients. Nevertheless, higher quality of life correlated with high compliance and patients who regarded alleviation of the disturbing appearance of their trunk as a main treatment aim also experienced a lower quality of life in the section of self image. Conclusions Our study revealed a significant lack of disease specific knowledge in patients with idiopathic scoliosis. Facilitation of knowledge might improve quality of life and therapy outcome in the future. As the attending physicians are the main source of information, it is up to us to improve this situation.