Investigative and Usability Findings of the Move-D Orthotic Brace Prototype for Upper Extremity Tremors in Pediatric Patients: An Unblinded, Experimental Study

Abstract

Tremors affect pediatric and adult populations, with roughly 3% of people worldwide experiencing essential tremors. Treatments include medication, deep brain stimulation, occupational/physical therapy, or adaptive equipment. This unblinded experimental pre-test–post-test study was performed (April–September 2021) at Children’s Health of Orange County, evaluating the effectiveness of Move-D, a novel orthotic brace, on pediatric tremors. Ten participants (14–19 years old) experiencing upper extremity tremors (5 essential, 2 dystonic, 1 coarse, 1 postural, and 1 unspecified) were enrolled. Participants completed a usability survey and performance was measured utilizing the Bruininks–Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, second edition, with and without the brace, using one-sided t-tests of mean differences. Move-D improved age-equivalent scores for fine motor precision by 20.5 months and upper limb coordination by 15.1 months. Manual coordination percentile rankings increased by 2.9%. Manual dexterity performance was unaffected. The usability survey revealed that 7/10 participants agreed or strongly agreed that they could move their arm freely while wearing the brace, the brace reduced their tremors, and they felt comfortable wearing the brace at home. Through standardized testing and findings from the usability survey, Move-D showed an improvement of functional abilities in a pediatric population with tremors.