Factors Influencing Occupation-Based Practice in Physical Dysfunction: Perspectives of Thai Occupational Therapists.
Patcharawalai Tupsai, Peeraya Munkhetvit, Anuchart Kaunnil
Thai OTs treating physical dysfunction report 95% agreement that occupation-based practice encourages client participation, yet 66% say they lack sufficient time to deliver it.
Staffing, space, and policy are the most cited barriers.
Key findings
195% of surveyed OTs agreed or strongly agreed that occupation-based practice effectively encourages clients with physical dysfunction to participate more actively in their occupations.
266% of participants reported insufficient time in OBP service, and the group identified policy and service system factors, along with clinical settings and equipment, as major barriers to OBP implementation.
3In interviews, therapists described how connecting therapy to daily-life occupations such as writing or driving helped clients continue training, whereas generic hand exercises without a personal goal did not sustain engagement.
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What it does not show
62 respondents fell short of the planned 85, and the authors note this may have introduced selection bias, with respondents potentially differing from non-respondents in their OBP use. Convenience sampling via social media and hospital networks; respondents were not representative of all six Thai regions and were drawn primarily from public hospitals. Inclusion required >1 year of OBP experience, so OTs who had not adopted OBP were excluded, which may inflate the reported agreement rates. The study reports therapists' self-perceptions and self-reported practice, not measured client outcomes. No client-level outcome data are presented. Nine interviewees is a small qualitative sample, and the findings reflect the experiences of those 9 individuals in their specific settings.
Declared interests
Funded by a Research Grant from the Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University (Grant 2022/1). No industry funding or conflicts of interest are declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 95% agreement rate as evidence that occupation-based practice improves patient outcomes. These are therapists' self-reported perceptions of their own practice, not measured client outcomes. The study contains no outcome data for clients with physical dysfunction, and the high agreement rates may reflect the inclusion criterion requiring prior OBP experience.
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