Osteogenesis imperfecta and physical therapy: A review of recent trends during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is a genetic disease affecting the bones. The main feature of the disease is bone fragility and low bone density. Between 6 and 7 in 100,000 people are affected by the disease. The clinical features are painful bones, bowlegs, short stature, enlarged head, bone fractures, hearing loss, and scoliosis. It is classified into four types: I to IV. Subgroups have been identified, whereby types V, VI, and VII are not associated with collagen muta-tion. Many patients experience deformities resulting in reduced mobility and difficulty to carry out daily activities. COVID-19 is defined as ”a mild to severe respiratory illness that is caused by a coronavirus, is transmitted chiefly by contact with infectious material (such as respiratory droplets) or with objects or surfaces contaminated by the causative virus, and is characterized espe-cially by fever, cough and shortness of breath and may progress to pneumonia and respiratory failure”. During the lock down, OI patients suffer from reduced physical activity. Home exercise programmes/physical therapy and the num-ber of clinical visits is also reduced. Rehabilitation sessions should include strengthening, developmental exercises, positioning, standing, and walking, whole-body vibration exercises, and aerobic exercise. Continuous physiotherapy is recognized as one of the essential conservative treatment options. A search was carried out of databases, including CINHAL, Embase, Cochrane, Pubmed, and Google Scholar. This was used to answer the following research questions: What is OI? How is it being treated? How did rehabilitation change during the COVID-19 pandemic? This is the first extensive review of research on the topic.