Brace-Wear Compliance in Patients with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis

Thirty-eight full-time and 38 part-time unselected brace wearers treated during a 7-year period were interviewed in a retrospective study to determine actual brace-wear compliance. Actual compliance was found to be lower than reported by patients during clinic visits and was much lower than reported in previous series. Only 15% of patients were highly compliant. On average, patients wore their braces 65% of the time they were instructed to do so. The reasons for low compliance in brace wear are unclear.