gms | German Medical Science

Background: Suit therapies involve the use of garments, which are a kind of dynamic orthosis. Although their use has become popular, scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of suit therapies is scarce.

Aim: The aims of this review to provide a comprehensive discussion on the mechanism, indications, contraindications, adverse effects and effectiveness of suit therapy for CP.

Method: A literature search was performed in the PUBMED, SCOPUS, Web of Science and PEDro databases. The articles were categorized according to their study design. Data on subjects (n, age, CP type, GMFCS level), suit type, intervention including dose of suit therapy, outcome measurements, outcomes, adverse effects and funding are extracted. The method introduced by Furlan, Pennick, Bombardier, and van Tulder was used for assessing the risk of bias to evaluate methodological quality of randomized controlled studies.

Results/findings: The 29 included studies consisted of 10 Class I, 8 Class II&III and 11 Class IV studies. Studies were heterogenous in design, sample size, study population and outcomes measured. The methodological quality score of RCTs varied 4-10. Results of the high quality RCTs showed that wearing the suit along with conventional therapy improves proximal stability, gross motor function and gait. The Class II&III and IV studies support the findings of the Class I studies.

Discussion and conclusions: In order to obtain gains in the function, it is important to carefully consider intended use, patient selection criteria and suit type. Therefore; while there some evidence exists regarding the use of suit therapies, it must be considered that “one size does not fit all”, not all therapies are a good fit for all children with CP.