OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY

Research for occupational therapy

Papers an occupational therapist can act on, across daily living, mental health, hand therapy, paediatrics and rehabilitation, each read in full rather than from its abstract.

10,853 PAPERS · PAGE 211 OF 218 · NEWEST FIRST

• OTSystematic Review2023Quality of life measurement tools for people with dementia and intellectual disabilities: A systematic review.Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARIDNo quality-of-life measure has been properly tested for adults with both intellectual disabilities and dementia. The one tool with any testing was only done in Italian, for late-stage dementia. The other has no testing at all.
• PTOTSystematic Review2023Active mobility, active participation: a systematic review of modified ride-on car use by children with disabilities.Disability and rehabilitation. Assistive technologyChildren as young as 7 months activated modified ride-on cars, and a majority enjoyed using them. No adverse events were reported. The evidence is very weak, so treat these findings as promising rather than proven.
• OTRCT2022Evaluation of a workplace alcohol prevention program targeted on managers' inclination to initiate early alcohol intervention.Work (Reading, Mass.)A workplace alcohol prevention program made managers more confident to start a conversation about an employee's drinking and less likely to demand proof first. But it also made them more likely to insist the employee admit a problem before getting help.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2022The Short-term Effects of Hippotherapy and Therapeutic Horseback Riding on Spasticity in Children With Cerebral Palsy: A Meta-analysis.Pediatric physical therapy : the official publication of the Section on Pediatrics of the American Physical Therapy AssociationThe meta-analysis found a significant short-term reduction in lower-limb spasticity after hippotherapy or therapeutic horseback riding in children with cerebral palsy. No difference was found between a single session and multiple sessions. The effect is temporary, not cumulative.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2022Effect of vagus nerve stimulation paired with rehabilitation for upper limb function improvement after stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.International journal of rehabilitation research. Internationale Zeitschrift fur Rehabilitationsforschung. Revue internationale de recherches de readaptationVNS added to rehabilitation produced a 3.59-point gain on the FMA-UE, below the 4.25-to-7.25 range one study sets as clinically meaningful. The Wolf Motor Function Test gain met its threshold. Hand function, grip, and dexterity did not differ from rehabilitation alone.
• OTRCT2022Outcomes of the Tree Theme Method versus regular occupational therapy: A longitudinal follow-up.Australian occupational therapy journalBoth groups improved in everyday occupations and psychological symptoms over 12 months, but the Tree Theme Method showed no advantage over regular occupational therapy. No between-group difference reached significance on any primary outcome.
• OTSystematic Review2023Effectiveness of CO-OP Approach for Children With Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Systematic Review.Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translationCO-OP improved children's daily activities and participation in all 19 studies that measured it, but effects on underlying motor skills were mixed. Only 6 of 20 studies reported a quantified benefit, and most used low-quality designs.
• OTMeta-Analysis2022Examining the relationship between cognitive inflexibility and internalizing and externalizing symptoms in autistic children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchGreater cognitive inflexibility in autistic children and adolescents correlates with more anxiety, depression, and behavioral problems. The association was moderate to large, consistent across studies, and not explained by age, sex, or IQ. It is correlational, not causal.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2025What is the effect of education on fatigue in adults with neurological conditions? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical rehabilitationFatigue education produced a small but significant reduction in fatigue for people with neurological conditions, with the strongest effect seen in one-to-one delivery. For stroke specifically, the effect was negligible. Evidence certainty is low.
• OTRCT2025Comparison of CO-OP and goal-directed training on occupational performance and functional status in children with cerebral palsy: Three-armed randomised trial.Australian occupational therapy journalCO-OP added to standard occupational therapy outperformed both goal-directed training plus standard therapy and standard therapy alone on occupational performance and functional status in children with cerebral palsy. Goal-directed training beat standard therapy alone on performance and satisfaction but not on functional status.
• PTOTSystematic Review2025Assessing Participation Among Stroke Survivors: A Systematic Review of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures.Occupational therapy internationalTen patient-reported scales assess stroke participation. SIS 3.0 has the most translations and broadest domain coverage. MAPA is the only one designed specifically for participation. Pick the tool that matches what you need to measure.
• PTOTRCT2024Use of a treadmill, lift, and carry battery as a composite functional performance test: analysis of data from a pragmatic randomized controlled trial in a military population participating in a functional restoration program.Physiotherapy theory and practiceA four-test battery (treadmill, two lifts, a carry) detected large changes after a 12-day functional restoration program. A single composite score captured 78% of the variation across tests. Recommended MCIDs give clinicians a yardstick for meaningful change.
• PTOTRCT2024The effectiveness of a 6-month intervention with sit-stand workstation in office workers: Results from the SUFHA cluster randomized controlled trial.Work (Reading, Mass.)A 6-month sit-stand desk did not reduce sitting time compared to a waiting-list control in 38 university office workers. Prolonged sitting bouts fell by about 26 min/day within the desk group, but the difference from control was not significant.
• OTSystematic Review2024Exploring Therapeutic Relationships in Pediatric Occupational Therapy: A Meta-Ethnography.Canadian journal of occupational therapy. Revue canadienne d'ergotherapieChildren said the relationship means being heard, but some were told what to do. Caregivers said trust is the foundation. Therapists said they struggle to balance professional duty with the family. Power dynamics, jargon, and cultural mismatch shaped the experience.
• OTSLPMeta-Analysis2024Meta-analysis of Cognitive Rehabilitation Interventions in Veterans and Service Members With Traumatic Brain Injuries.The Journal of head trauma rehabilitationCognitive rehabilitation produced a small improvement on memory and executive function tests for veterans with mild TBI, but no significant gain in everyday functioning. Strategy-based approaches showed benefit; drill-and-practice did not.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2023Systematic Review to Inform a World Health Organization (WHO) Clinical Practice Guideline: Benefits and Harms of Needling Therapies for Chronic Primary Low Back Pain in Adults.Journal of occupational rehabilitationNeedling therapies for chronic low back pain showed a small pain reduction versus sham that fell short of the minimally important difference. Versus no treatment, pain and function improved more. All evidence is low or very low certainty.
• OTRCT2023Work-MAP Telehealth Metacognitive Work-Performance Intervention for Adults With ADHD: Randomized Controlled Trial.OTJR : occupation, participation and healthAdults with ADHD reported better work performance, fewer executive-function difficulties, and higher quality of life after an 11-week OT telehealth programme. Gains held at 3 months.
• OTRCT2025Effects of a structured ergonomic training on knowledge and utilization of ergonomics among bankers - A single-blind pragmatic randomized controlled trial.Work (Reading, Mass.)A 45-minute ergonomic training raised bankers' self-reported ergonomic knowledge from 2.96 to 7.33 out of 10 at six weeks, while a placebo session did not. The measure was what participants said they knew and planned to do, not observed practice or physical health.
• OTSystematic Review2025The use of multisensory environments in children and adults with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceMultisensory rooms showed some benefit for stereotyped behaviors and sensory responses in autistic people, but results for communication, anxiety, and disruptive behavior were mixed or null. Ten small, heterogeneous studies provide too little evidence to guide clinical decisions.
• OTRCT2025Efficacy of a prewriting intervention: A pilot randomised control trial.Australian occupational therapy journalSeventeen of the 18 kindergarten children improved their prewriting scores over time, but the group that received six weeks of extra instruction did not improve more than the waitlist group. The study was too small to detect a difference.
• OTSystematic Review2025The effects of crafts-based interventions on mental health and well-being: A systematic review.Australian occupational therapy journalCrafts-based activities like pottery, knitting, and clay work showed short-term improvements in depression, anxiety, and well-being across 19 studies. One study found no effect. Long-term benefits remain unproven.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2024Effects of Balance Exercise Interventions on Balance-Related Performance in People With Multiple Sclerosis: A Systematic Review and a Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairBalance training in MS produces a moderate improvement in balance scores and a small improvement in mobility, but no change in gait speed or stepping. More training hours are associated with a larger effect. How many balance components are challenged is not.
• OTSLPMeta-Analysis2023Efficacy of very early interventions on neurodevelopmental outcomes for infants and toddlers at increased likelihood of or diagnosed with autism: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchVery early interventions for infants and toddlers at risk of or diagnosed with autism showed little to no difference in autism symptoms, cognition, or language by age 3. A small adaptive-skills gain was found but rated very low certainty.
• OTSystematic Review2023Occupational therapy interventions for adult informal carers and implications for intervention design, delivery and evaluation: A systematic review.The British journal of occupational therapyOT interventions for carers show mixed results. TAP and COPE improved carer outcomes in multiple trials, COTiD did not replicate outside the Netherlands, and several trials actually increased carer burden. Carers consistently valued the support in qualitative feedback.
• PTOTSystematic Review2023Effect of Exercise and Motor Interventions on Physical Activity and Motor Outcomes of Adults with Cerebral Palsy: A Systematic Review.Developmental neurorehabilitationVery low quality evidence from 25 studies: rhythmic auditory stimulation and balance training showed small benefits over their comparators, while treadmill training, resistance training, and whole-body vibration did not outperform their controls. No intervention was shown to work reliably.
• PTOTSystematic Review2022Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation Improves Activities of Daily Living Post Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translationNMES produced a moderate improvement in daily living scores for 428 post-stroke patients across 10 trials, but did not improve motor ability. The benefit was strongest in the subacute stage and for the upper limb. No adverse effects were reported.
• PTOTSystematic Review2022Functional outcome measures for distal radius fractures: A systematic review.Hong Kong journal of occupational therapy : HKJOTDASH, ROM, and Grip dominated outcome measurement in distal radius fracture studies, but 89% of studies used multiple measures to cover both body function and activity. No single measure captures the full picture.
• OTRCT2025A Metacognitive Strategy Intervention for People With Parkinson's Disease: Pilot and Feasibility Trial.The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy AssociationIn a pilot trial of 50 people with Parkinson's, a metacognitive strategy approach produced larger gains in self-rated daily cognitive goals than a task-practice control, though both groups improved. The trial was feasible, safe, and well received.
• OTSLPMeta-Analysis2025Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Early Child Development: A Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPOverall development showed no significant difference between pandemic and pre-pandemic children. But language and communication scores were significantly lower in pandemic-exposed children, a finding consistent across both parent reports and practitioner-administered tests.
• OTSystematic Review2024Effectiveness of Interventions for Meaningful Activity Participation in Homelessness: A Systematic Review.Canadian journal of occupational therapy. Revue canadienne d'ergotherapieMost of the 12 studies found showed improvement in meaningful activity participation. Housing First, Critical Time Intervention, and peer support did not. None of the studies were designed to test this outcome as a primary goal.
• OTRCT2024Contralaterally controlled functional electrical stimulation video game therapy for hand rehabilitation after stroke: a randomized controlled trial.Disability and rehabilitationAdding video games to electrical-stimulation hand therapy did not improve dexterity, impairment, or activity scores over 12 weeks in 39 stroke survivors with chronic hand weakness. The small gains seen in one group were not clinically meaningful.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2023Effects of Virtual Reality-Based Exercise on Balance in Patients With Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitationVR-based exercise improved balance by 1.35 points on a 56-point scale in chronic stroke, but showed no significant difference in acute or subacute patients. Most studies added VR on top of conventional therapy, so the VR-specific effect is unclear.
• OTSystematic Review2023Characteristics of Early Interventions for Pain and Function Following Lower Extremity Joint Replacement: Systematic Review.Occupational therapy in health careTask-oriented exercises had the best evidence for long-term benefit after hip or knee replacement, but the evidence is thin and no study in the review was actually delivered by an occupational therapist.
• OTMeta-Analysis2022The Effect of Occupational Engagement on Lifestyle in Adults Living with Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Occupational therapy internationalAdding occupational engagement to chronic pain treatment increased physical activity in the short term but not at 3-12 month follow-up. Sleep quality showed no short-term difference. Evidence quality is low, so treat these as tentative.
• PTOTSystematic Review2024Efficacy of acupuncture combined with mirror therapy in the treatment of post-stroke limb movement disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesAcupuncture added to mirror therapy improved upper and lower limb motor scores over either treatment alone or conventional rehab, across 42 trials of 3,340 stroke patients. Spasticity scores did not clearly improve.
• PTOTSystematic Review2024Workplace interventions focusing on how to plan, organize and design the work environment in hospital settings: A systematic review.Work (Reading, Mass.)Across 26 hospital workplace studies, combinations of ergonomic, organizational, and psychosocial changes produced positive outcomes in pain, burnout, injuries, and job satisfaction. Because nearly every study bundled multiple changes together, no single intervention can be credited for the effect.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2022Effect of Motor Intervention for Infants and Toddlers With Cerebral Palsy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Pediatric physical therapy : the official publication of the Section on Pediatrics of the American Physical Therapy AssociationTask-specific motor training gave infants under 3 with CP a small motor advantage over standard care. CIMT did not show a clear benefit over bimanual play or infant massage. All evidence is very low quality.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2025Effects of mirror therapy on motor and functional recovery of the upper extremity in subacute stroke: Systematic review and meta-analysis.PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitationMirror therapy improved arm movement, hand function, and daily living tasks in people within 6 months of stroke. The benefit appeared with both arms moving together, not with the unaffected arm alone. Quality of life did not change.
• PTOTSystematic Review2025The Safety of Telerehabilitation: Systematic Review.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologiesAcross 37 randomized trials, telerehabilitation produced 201 adverse events in 65,352 sessions, most mild and unrelated to the intervention. No serious event was linked to the remote therapy itself.
• PTOTSystematic Review2024Effectiveness of guided telerehabilitation on functional performance in community-dwelling older adults: A systematic review.Clinical rehabilitationAcross 26 trials, no study found in-person care superior to telerehabilitation. Eleven found telerehabilitation better, twelve found improvement but no clear difference from the control group, and nine found no significant change. Evidence quality was low to moderate.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2023Efficacy of virtual reality training on motor performance, activity of daily living, and quality of life in patients with Parkinson's disease: an umbrella review comprising meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationVR training improved balance, stride length, and daily living in Parkinson's patients, but not walking speed or motor function. Evidence quality is low to very low, and all trials ran 3 to 12 weeks.
• PTOTSystematic Review2022Integrating virtual reality and exergaming in cognitive rehabilitation of patients with Parkinson disease: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineAcross 10 small trials of VR or exergaming for cognition in Parkinson's, results were mixed. Some showed the technology outperformed conventional rehab; others showed both groups improving equally. Most trials treated cognition as a secondary measure, and the tests were too varied to combine.
• PTOTRCT2025Task Practice With and Without Aerobic Exercise Improves Health-related Quality of Life and Social Participation Post-stroke: A Randomized Clinical Trial.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairAdding aerobic cycling to upper-extremity task practice did not improve quality of life, mood, or participation more than task practice alone in 60 people with chronic stroke. Both groups improved and kept those gains at 12 months.
• PTOTRCT2024Effect of task-oriented training assisted by force feedback hand rehabilitation robot on finger grasping function in stroke patients with hemiplegia: a randomised controlled trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationBoth groups improved hand function after 4 weeks of task-oriented training. The robot-assisted group gained more grip strength and finger range of motion, but showed no advantage on daily living scores or muscle tone.
• OTSystematic Review2023Virtual reality applications based on instrumental activities of daily living (iADLs) for cognitive intervention in older adults: a systematic review.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationVirtual reality versions of shopping, cooking and housework lifted cognitive test scores in older adults, including those with mild cognitive impairment or dementia. Everyday independence mostly did not change on scales such as Lawton. Treat this as cognitive training, not function training.
• OTRCT2023Telehealth-Guided Virtual Reality for Recovery of Upper Extremity Function Following Stroke.OTJR : occupation, participation and healthStroke survivors using a virtual reality home exercise program with telehealth OT support improved their arm function by 8.6 points on a 66-point scale over 8 weeks, more than the usual-care group. They also reported using their weaker arm more in daily tasks.
• OTRCT2023Effect of Using TheraBracelet on Grasping versus Reaching in Poststroke Rehabilitation.OTJR : occupation, participation and healthIn 12 people with chronic stroke, wrist vibration added to hand-focused therapy sped up grasping (45% faster to lift a block) but not reaching. The control group got slower. With 6 per group and therapy aimed at grasping, the bracelet's role cannot be isolated.
• PTOTRCT2022Efficacy of sitting balance training with delayed visual feedback among patients with stroke: a randomized crossover clinical trial.Journal of physical therapy scienceDelayed visual feedback (500 ms) improved sitting balance, center-of-pressure excursion, and ADL scores in 20 stroke patients. Real-time visual feedback did not. The pattern held whether the delay came first or second.
• OTSLPSystematic Review2022Parent-Mediated Interventions for Infants under 24 Months at Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of autism and developmental disordersCoaching parents of babies at risk for autism did not change whether those babies were later diagnosed, and effects on the infants' own skills were inconsistent. What did improve was how parents interacted with their baby. Present these programmes as parent support, not prevention.
• PTOTRCT2022Comparative effects of EMG-driven robot-assisted therapy versus task-oriented training on motor and daily function in patients with stroke: a randomized cross-over trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationBoth robot-assisted hand therapy and task-oriented training improved upper limb function in chronic stroke. Robot therapy was better for speed of task completion; task-oriented training was better for spontaneous arm use in daily life.