6549 Care giver experience and usage of lower limb orthotic devices among patients attending for paediatric care in a tertiary care centre, Sri Lnaka

Objectives General – To asses the care givers experience and usage of lower limb orthotic devices among Sri Lankan patients, in a tertiary care centre. specific – To asses the demographic distribution of patients to asses indications for usage To asses type of orthotic devices To asses positive experiences of patient and to suggest methods to strengthen them To asses negative experiences of patients and to suggest methods to minimise them Methods Data were collected from the care givers using an interviewer-administered questionnaire and relevant medical information was extracted from medical reports. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among a convenient sample of 100 children with lower limb orthosis, attending for routine paediatric neurology care at Lady ridgeway Hospital for Children, Colombo, Sri Lanka Results All inclusive sample of 100 patients were taken. Demographics 80% responders were mothers 70% of children were above the age of 5y category 48% were Male 78% of children in the study had unsatisfactory growth parameters (weight <–2SD, height<–2SD) Indications for Use Hemiplegia/diplegia- 40% Spastic quadriplegia –18% Spinal dysraphism- 18% Type of device Ankle foot orthoses – 92% Knee ankle foot orthoses – 8% Compliance Total hours of use – 2 to 8 hours for 70% Conclusion Care givers had an overall good experience with lower limb orthotic devices. Functionality and user friendliness were the major reasons for this. Care givers complained about the frequent hospital visits, not feeling adequately safe with the use of these devices especially due to skin injuries and chafing and also the sense of confinement felt by the patients. To optimise the use and acceptance of orthotic devices we suggest; Improving device quality in relation to ccessible skin injuries and improving safety! Further bolster knowledge on usage and advantages for patient and care givers Organize out reach ccessib to make the service more ccessible. References Randomized Control Trial to Evaluate Efficacy, Acceptability, and Perception of Benefit of an Innovative Custom AFO.ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02819011. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02819011. Efficacy of different techniques of AFO construction for hemiplegia patients: a systematic review. Med J Islam Repub Iran 2019;33:50. Published online 2019 Jun. doi: 10.34171/mjiri.33.50. Ensieh Pourhosseingholi, Behshid Farahmand, Azam Bagheri, Mohammad Kamali, Morteza Saeb. Research and Development of Ankle-Foot Orthoses: A Review. https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/17/6596/htm. Concong zhou, zaho young. Compliance in Children With Cerebral Palsy Supplied With AFOs. ICH GCPUS Clinical Trials Registry Clinical Trial NCT04081675. https://ichgcp.net/clinical-trials-registry/NCT04081675.