Form may be as important as function in orthotic acceptance: A case report

Orthotic prescription offers interesting insights into patient compliance with what a physician or therapist recommends. For example, when a deficit is severe, an orthotic device or gait aid as large and intrusive as a cane or ankle-foot orthosis is usually well accepted. However, an orthosis, even if beneficial, may be discarded if it is not essential to performing daily activities, is uncomfortable, or if the patient feels it highlights his/her disability. Nevertheless, it is sometimes possible to alter the appearance or form of an appliance from an orthosis that is appropriate but resisted by a patient to an orthosis that maintains its function but is embraced. This report presents the case of a patient who required a thumb orthosis to maintain her thumb interphalangeal joint in extension after a stroke but found that it interfered with her self-image and her ability to perform her job.