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Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of brace treatment on the stress level and quality of life (QoL) of adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis. Patients and methods: A total of 194 adolescent individuals were evaluated in two groups: the adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) group with 97 patients (20 males, 77 females; mean age: 13.9±1.8 years; range 10 to 18 years) and the control group with 97 age-and sex-matched participants (20 males, 77 females; mean age: 14.3±1.7 years; range 10 to 18 years) with no spinal deformity. The AIS group wore the Milwaukee brace or a thoracolumbosacral orthosis based on the location of the apical vertebra. All participants of the AIS group filled the Persian versions of the revised Scoliosis Research Society 22-item questionnaire (SRS-22r), the eight-item Bad Sobernheim Stress Questionnaire (BSSQ)-Deformity, and BSSQ-Brace. The control group only answered the first 20 items (subtotal items) of the SRS-22r. The brace-related QoL and stress level were assessed based on sex, brace, and deformity types. Results: The subtotal score of the SRS-22r in the AIS group was significantly lower than the control group (p<0.001). There was a significant difference between deformity-related stress and brace-related stress (p<0.001). Regarding the type of treatment, there were no significant differences in QoL and stress level between the Milwaukee brace and thoracolumbosacral orthosis groups (p>0.05). Moreover, there was a weak correlation between the BSSQ-Brace and the self-image, mental-health scores, and the total scores of the SRS-22r (r=0.39 to 0.42, p<0.001); the low level of perceived stress was associated with a high level of perceived QoL. Conclusion: The stress due to brace treatment can decrease function/activity and self-image of adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis.

Background: Therapists are faced with some challenges of convincing individuals with knee osteoarthritis (OA) to do therapeutic exercises. Objectives: This study aimed to design and evaluate the effectiveness of a tool in tracking therapeutic exercise patterns. Methods: In this pilot study, the designed tool was an invention (registration no.: A61B 5/00) consisting of four movement patterns designed on a map for tracking movement patterns by users through laser light. A total of 16 subjects with knee OA participated in this pilot study, including a control group (n = 8) and an intervention (n = 8) group. The exercises for both groups were static stretching and straight-leg-raise exercises. The control and the intervention groups did therapeutic exercises in traditional methods with the designed tool for 4 weeks, respectively. Pain intensity, range of motion (ROM), and satisfaction are measured before and after the intervention. Results: After the intervention, median ROM and pain intensity during rest and activities significantly decreased in both groups. Intergroup comparison showed that median knee flexion in the intervention group was more significantly increased, compared to that of the control group. Furthermore, pain intensity during rest and activities in the intervention group was more significantly decreased than in the control group. No significant difference was observed between the two groups in knee extension. Additionally, the participants in the intervention group expressed significantly higher treatment satisfaction than the control group. Conclusions: For tracking therapeutic exercise patterns, a tracking therapeutic exercise pattern tool could result in increasing the flexion range of the knee joint and reducing more pain in patients with OA, compared to conventional exercises. Participants are more interested in using the pattern tracking method for doing exercises than the usual method.