Infant Cranial Deformity: Cranial Helmet Therapy or Physiotherapy?

Josefa González-Santos, Jerónimo J. González-Bernal, Raquel De-la-Fuente Anuncibay, Raúl Soto-Cámara, Esther Cubo, José M. Aguilar-Parra, Rubén Trigueros and Remedios López-Liria
Additional contact information
Josefa González-Santos: Department of Health Sciences, Cavidito Research Team, Health Research Centre, University of Burgos, 09001 Burgos, Spain
Jerónimo J. González-Bernal: Department of Health Sciences, Cavidito Research Team, Health Research Centre, University of Burgos, 09001 Burgos, Spain
Raquel De-la-Fuente Anuncibay: Department of Educational Sciences, Discondu Research Team, Educational Research Centre, University of Burgos, 09001 Burgos, Spain
Raúl Soto-Cámara: Department of Health Sciences, Cavidito Research Team, Health Research Centre, University of Burgos, 09001 Burgos, Spain
Esther Cubo: Department of Health Sciences, Cavidito Research Team, Health Research Centre, University of Burgos, 09001 Burgos, Spain
José M. Aguilar-Parra: Department of Psychology, Hum 878 Research Team, Health Research Centre, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
Rubén Trigueros: Department of Language and Education, University of Antonio de Nebrija, 28015 Madrid, Spain
Remedios López-Liria: Department of Nursing Science, Physiotherapy and Medicine, Hum 498 Research Team, Health Research Centre, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 7, 1-9

Abstract: Objective : To compare cranial helmet therapy (CHT) and physiotherapy (PT) for the effective treatment of positional plagiocephaly in infants in terms of improving functional recovery. Methods: This was a prospective cohort study involving 48 infants between 5–10 months of age with cranial deformities. The Cranial Vault Asymmetry Index (CVAI) and the Brunet–Lezine scale were calculated at the initiation of the study and after 40 treatment sessions. Results : The infants’ first assessment showed a delay in overall development areas with a global developmental quotient (DQ) (posture, coordination, sociability, and language) of 80.15. Although developmental improvements were observed in both groups in the Brunet–Lezine scale after treatment, the MANCOVA test showed no significant differences (F(5) = 0.82, p = 0.506, eta 2 = 0.09). The CVAI reduced to 4.07% during the final evaluation in the cranial helmet group and 5.85% in the physiotherapy group without any significant differences between the two therapies ( p = 0.70). Conclusions : No statistically significant differences were found between CHT and PT. After treatment, improvements from baseline measurements were observed in each of the readings of cranial deformity.

Keywords: plagiocephaly; helmet; physiotherapy; intervention; treatment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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