The aim of this study was to assess the long-term effects of helmet
therapy in its use for positional cranial deformation, such as
plagiocephaly and
brachycephaly, by evaluating head shapes in children with a 5-year interval. These children were included at a neonatal age, with a deviating cranial shape classified as positional deformation, and received different forms of
therapy, varying from none to physical and helmet
therapy combined. Cranial shape was measured before and after
therapy, using plagiocephalometry. Both
positional plagiocephaly and positional
brachycephaly decrease significantly in prevalence and severity over time (P = 0.031 and P < 0.001, respectively), with average relative reductions of 194.5% in ODDI (P = 0.001) and of 878.4% in
CPI (P < 0.001). Although the decrease in ODDI and
CPI did not significantly vary between treatment methods, ODDI is shown to significantly decrease in case of
therapy opposed to no
therapy, especially if treatment consists of both
physical therapy and helmet
therapy (P < 0.001). The long-term effects of
therapy are therefore beneficial in the treatment of
positional plagiocephaly and will increase the reduction in ODDI, especially in case of both physical and helmet
therapy.