Evaluating the Impact of a New Complement to Physiotherapy Intervention for Positional Torticollis in Infants

Evaluating the Impact of a New Complement to Physiotherapy Intervention for Positional Torticollis in Infants

Children with a torticollis are usually referred for physiotherapy where they are evaluated, and given exercises as well as education to treat the condition. This study is being done in order to compare 2 methods of sharing information with parents of children with torticollis.

160 children of less than 6 months of age will be recruited for the study and divided in 2 groups. Children of both groups will receive the same physiotherapy evaluation and exercises but parents will receive information handouts with one of two different types of illustrations and written instructions for home exercises.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aged newborn to 6 months at initial visit in physiotherapy,
• A diagnosis of PT made by a physician,
• At least 37 weeks of gestational age at delivery

Exclusion Criteria:

• Congenital muscular torticollis with fibrosis (confirmed diagnosis): because this is a rare condition that has a different rate of recovery,
• Presence of craniosynostosis (confirmed diagnosis made by a neurosurgeon),
• APGAR score of less than 7 at 5 minutes,
• Prescription of a Tubular Orthosis for Torticollis (TOT) collar or Botox intervention for the torticollis,
• Confirmed diagnosis of syndrome or neurological condition.