title: Positional cranial deformity--the parents' point of view.
abstract: The parents' point of view regarding positional cranial deformities and helmet therapy has not been the subject of scientific interest yet. However, carer acceptance is a key factor for therapeutic success. We therefore investigated parental perception. The parents of 218 infants were included in a telephone survey; 122 children had undergone helmet therapy and 96 had not. Satisfaction with the outcome, treatment-associated problems, and parental stress were investigated using a structured questionnaire. The great majority (90.8%) of caregivers were satisfied with the outcome, regardless of whether or not helmet therapy was used. Retrospectively, 76% of the parents of infants who had not undergone helmet therapy would decide against helmet therapy again. Therapy was either temporarily stopped (27.0%) or terminated (4.9%) in 31.9% of infants treated with a helmet. Major problems were sweating (51.1%) and skin lacerations (30.9%). The parents indicated minor (54.9%) or even great (25.4%) personal strain. Conflict with others (38.5%), stress for the child (30.3%), and a financial burden (36.9%) were mentioned most frequently. There appear to be more parental problems than expected associated with helmet therapy. Medical experts should take this into consideration. The indication for a helmet should be evaluated critically and the potential parental burdens should be addressed during counselling.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. Electronic address: susanne.kluba@med.uni-tuebingen.de.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kluba
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lypke
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kraut
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Calgeer
authors.affiliation: University Children's Hospital, Department of Paediatric Neurology, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Haas-Lude
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Krimmel
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reinert
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006260:Head Protective Devices; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D049068:Plagiocephaly, Nonsynostotic / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: helmet therapy; parental perception; positional cranial deformity