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 29 OF 218 · NEWEST FIRST

• PTOTSLPCohort2017Rehabilitation in a convalescent rehabilitation ward following an acute ward improves functional recovery and mortality for hip fracture patients: a sequence in a single hospital.Journal of physical therapy scienceHip fracture patients who moved to a convalescent rehabilitation ward within the same hospital had higher discharge independence scores and home discharge rates than those discharged directly from the acute ward. One-year mortality did not differ significantly between the two groups.
• PTOTOther20173D motion analysis of the wrist splint effect to wrist joint movement.Journal of physical therapy scienceWearing a fitted wrist splint while opening bottle caps increased wrist angle values in young adults for each cap size tested. This was a small laboratory test in normal wrists, not proof splints prevent injury.
• PTOTSystematic Review2017Is robot-assisted therapy effective in upper extremity recovery in early stage stroke? -a systematic literature review.Journal of physical therapy scienceRobot-assisted therapy matched conventional therapy for upper limb recovery in early stroke, but most studies added robots to usual care rather than replacing it. The benefit of the robot itself remains unclear, though 3D devices may aid motor function.
• PTOTSLPNarrative Review2017Virtual Reality and Serious Games in Neurorehabilitation of Children and Adults: Prevention, Plasticity, and Participation.Pediatric physical therapy : the official publication of the Section on Pediatrics of the American Physical Therapy AssociationVirtual reality and serious games improve balance and motor function in children and adults with neurological conditions, but evidence for participation and fitness gains is mixed. Dose and system type matter, yet clinical adoption is hindered by lack of training and clear guidelines.
• PTOTOther2017The effects of training using EMG biofeedback on stroke patients upper extremity functions.Journal of physical therapy scienceAdding EMG biofeedback to traditional stroke rehabilitation did not clearly improve upper-limb or independence scores beyond traditional rehabilitation alone in 30 chronic stroke outpatients.
• OTOther2017Quantification of task-dependent cortical activation evoked by robotic continuous wrist joint manipulation in chronic hemiparetic stroke.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationAfter stroke, people with severe sensory impairment had reduced brain responses to robotic wrist movement. People with mild impairment showed reduced responses during active wrist tasks. The findings describe sensory pathway damage, not treatment benefit.
• OTCohort2017Perceived social support moderates the relationship between activities of daily living and depression after lower limb loss.Rehabilitation psychologyIn 73 people after lower-limb amputation, those who found daily activities difficult had higher depression at 12 months when they also had low social support. The study did not test whether increasing support reduces depression.
• OTOther2017Association of Rigid-Compulsive Behavior with Functional Constipation in Autism Spectrum Disorder.Journal of autism and developmental disordersIn children and adolescents with autism, those with functional constipation were rated by parents as having more rigid-compulsive behavior, especially rituals and sameness. The compulsive behavior link did not hold in medication-free or behavioral-medication subgroups.
• PTOTNarrative Review2017Consideration of Dose and Timing When Applying Interventions After Stroke and Spinal Cord Injury.Journal of neurologic physical therapy : JNPTFor upper limb stroke rehabilitation, more repetitions did not clearly improve function, and measured gains did not translate into daily use. Walking after stroke and incomplete spinal cord injury may respond to intensive therapy, but timing and inflammation matter.
• PTOTPilot2017A Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) and robot hybrid system for multi-joint coordinated upper limb rehabilitation after stroke.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationAfter 20 sessions with a muscle-signal-controlled robot and electrical stimulation device, 11 people after chronic stroke improved upper-limb function scores and tracking accuracy. No control group means the combined intervention cannot be attributed to one component.
• PTOTNarrative Review2017Activity-Based Therapy: From Basic Science to Clinical Application for Recovery After Spinal Cord Injury.Journal of neurologic physical therapy : JNPTIntense, task-specific movement below the spinal cord injury is the core of activity-based therapy. The review also describes a movement-quality scale and three children with chronic SCI reported to change following locomotor training.
• OTOther2017Supplemental vibrotactile feedback control of stabilization and reaching actions of the arm using limb state and position error encodings.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationIn healthy adults, vibration on the opposite arm reduced hand drift and improved reaching without vision. After training, feedback about target error helped reaching more than feedback about hand position and speed. This is not evidence for stroke therapy.
• OTOther2017Utility of providing a concussion definition in the assessment of concussion history in former NFL players.Brain injuryFormer NFL players reported many more concussions after hearing a current definition. The median self-report rose from 10 to 50. Higher reports were linked to worse mood and behaviour, not cognitive scores.
• PTOTSLPCohort2017Focused and divided attention abilities in the acute phase of recovery from moderate to severe traumatic brain injury.Brain injuryPeople with moderate-to-severe TBI in acute recovery struggle to search visually when distracted, but can filter out irrelevant info if first given a spatial cue. They are also slower to confirm when a target is absent. Use location cues and allow extra time.
• OTOther2017Design and test of an automated version of the modified Jebsen test of hand function using Microsoft Kinect.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationIn 11 stroke patients, a Kinect camera timed the Modified Jebsen hand test and agreed with video review better than a therapist did. It may help repeat hand-function tests consistently, but does not show recovery.
• PTOTSLPCohort2017A Short and Distinct Time Window for Recovery of Arm Motor Control Early After Stroke Revealed With a Global Measure of Trajectory Kinematics.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairArm motor control recovery plateaued by 5 weeks post-stroke, while strength and clinical scores continued improving through one year. This suggests spontaneous biological recovery is largely complete early, whereas later gains likely reflect strength or compensation.
• OTCohort2017Rehospitalization Over 10 Years Among Survivors of TBI: A National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems Study.The Journal of head trauma rehabilitationRehospitalization after TBI rehabilitation discharge was common: 27.8% of participants at 1 year, 23.0% at 2 years, 22.1% at 5 years, and 23.4% at 10 years. Reasons moved toward general health and psychiatric causes.
• OTOther2017Resolving the effect of wrist position on myoelectric pattern recognition control.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationFor EMG control of hand grasps, adding wrist position data improved accuracy, especially with a model that handles non-linear patterns. Simulating other wrist positions from neutral-position data also improved accuracy, but only in offline tests.
• PTOTCohort2017Therapy Use for Children With Developmental Conditions: Analysis of Colorado Medicaid Data.Pediatric physical therapy : the official publication of the Section on Pediatrics of the American Physical Therapy AssociationColorado Medicaid infants and toddlers with more chronic conditions were more likely to receive physical or occupational therapy, at higher doses and spending. Those with developmental delays used more PT/OT than those with developmental diagnoses.
• OTCohort2017Anxiety and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Medicare Beneficiaries After Traumatic Brain Injury.The Journal of head trauma rehabilitationAfter hospitalization for traumatic brain injury, older adults had more anxiety and PTSD diagnoses than before injury. Anxiety appeared in 17% and PTSD in 0.3%, with rates highest in the first months.
• OTSLPCohort2017Autism Spectrum Disorder in Males with Sex Chromosome Aneuploidy: XXY/Klinefelter Syndrome, XYY, and XXYY.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPASD was much more common in males with XYY or XXYY than in XXY/KS, reaching 43% and 52% under DSM-5. Updating from DSM-IV to DSM-5 raised the overall rate slightly, but the study did not show a clear change.
• OTOther2017The Minimal Clinically Important Difference for the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory.The Journal of head trauma rehabilitationA 5-point rise on the MPAI-4 total score may mark the smallest meaningful improvement, and a 9-point rise a moderate improvement, in adults during post-inpatient brain injury rehabilitation.
• OTSurvey2017The Health and Economic Well-Being of US Mothers with Intellectual Impairments.Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARIDMothers grouped as having intellectual impairments by a vocabulary test score below 80 more often reported a work-limiting health condition, lower income, poverty and WIC benefits than other mothers. Emotional health, parenting stress and partner support did not differ.
• PTOTOther2017Dynamic arm study: quantitative description of upper extremity function and activity of boys and men with duchenne muscular dystrophy.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationBoys and men with Duchenne muscular dystrophy had weaker arm muscles and smaller active joint angles than healthy peers. Deltoid and biceps torque loss was associated with difficulty lifting and bending the elbow.
• PTOTRCT2017The effects of occupation-centered activity program on fall-related factors and quality of life in patients with dementia.Journal of physical therapy scienceDementia patients in a daytime care center who added an occupation-centered program to their medication showed significantly better balance, leg strength, fall confidence, and quality of life than those on medication alone. The group also had larger improvements in cognitive test scores.
• PTOTOther2017Inter-rater reliability of kinesthetic measurements with the KINARM robotic exoskeleton.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationWhen different robot operators set up the same participant, scores for matching arm movement were similar. The test can be used consistently by different operators, but it did not test treatment effects or daily function.
• OTCohort2017Child and Adult Factors Related to Quality of Life in Adults with Autism.Journal of autism and developmental disordersQuality of life ratings for adults who could self-report, and for their families or care staff, were mostly near population averages. Their own and caregiver views often disagreed, especially on social life.
• PTOTOther2017The Impact of Shoulder Abduction Loading on Volitional Hand Opening and Grasping in Chronic Hemiparetic Stroke.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairLifting the affected arm against gravity worsened hand opening in moderate chronic stroke and made severely impaired participants close their hand instead of opening it. Controls were unaffected. Total maximal grasping force did not change, but involuntary grasping force rose with loading.
• OTCase Series2017Effects of an abdominal muscle exercise program in people with intellectual disabilities residing in a residential care facility.Journal of physical therapy scienceTen people with intellectual disabilities did abdominal exercises twice weekly for 12 weeks. Average weight fell from 60.8 kg to 59.0 kg, sit-ups rose from 29.6 to 34.8, and sit-and-reach rose from 4.3 cm to 5.6 cm. No control group limits certainty.
• PTOTOther2017Design and Development of a Telerehabilitation Platform for Patients With Phantom Limb Pain: A User-Centered Approach.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologiesPatients and therapists shaped a mobile mirror-therapy telerehab app for phantom limb pain. Their requirements and field-test complaints drove repeated redesigns. This paper describes the build, not whether the app reduces pain or improves adherence.
• OTSLPSurvey2017Priority service needs and receipt across the lifespan for individuals with autism spectrum disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchCaregivers reported that people with autism across Canada rarely received services matching their top needs, and priority services were received less often after early childhood.
• PTOTSLPCohort2017Occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech-language pathology in the neonatal intensive care unit: Patterns of therapy usage in a level IV NICU.Research in developmental disabilitiesMore therapy was not associated with better neurobehavior, though earlier SLP initiation was related to better self-regulation. 100% of infants received OT and PT, and 51% had an SLP evaluation.
• PTOTQualitative2016How Therapists Use Visualizations of Upper Limb Movement Information From Stroke Patients: A Qualitative Study With Simulated Information.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologiesTherapists saw simulated arm-movement dashboards as useful for checking home activity, exercise, and neglect, engaging patients, and advocating for resources. They also said the data lacked context needed to tell whether movements were exercises, daily tasks, or compensations.
• OTSLPSystematic Review2016Studies Involving People With Dementia and Touchscreen Technology: A Literature Review.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologiesPeople with dementia used touchscreen devices for assessment, daily tasks and leisure, often with support. Independent use depended on training, prompts, feedback and simple design.
• OTCase-Control2017Neural synchronization deficits linked to cortical hyper-excitability and auditory hypersensitivity in fragile X syndrome.Molecular autismIn fragile X syndrome, auditory brain responses to a rising-frequency stimulus were less synchronized and had more ongoing high-frequency activity. These patterns tracked auditory hypersensitivity and social communication scores.
• OTOther2017Counting Grasping Action Using Force Myography: An Exploratory Study With Healthy Individuals.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologiesIn 10 healthy people, wrist and forearm force-sensing straps told whether the hand was grasping or not with high accuracy, and counted grasps during controlled pick-and-place tasks. It was not tested in stroke or weak-arm rehabilitation.
• OTSLPNarrative Review2017Technologies to Support Community-Dwelling Persons With Dementia: A Position Paper on Issues Regarding Development, Usability, Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness, Deployment, and Ethics.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologiesAssistive technology may help people with dementia with daily living, activities, mood, social functioning, and may reduce service use, but the evidence is mostly from small studies without strong comparison groups. Use it with training, support, and checks on consent, privacy, and changing abilities.
• PTOTSLPNarrative Review2017Clinical and genetic aspects of the 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 microdeletion disorder.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDRThis microdeletion disorder is associated with speech, motor, learning and behaviour problems, but many carriers are unaffected. Diagnosis requires genetic testing, usually microarray. Therapy should target each person's specific delays, not assume the deletion alone explains all difficulties.
• OTOther2017Participation in Early Childhood Educational Environments for Young Children with and Without Developmental Disabilities and Delays: A Mixed Methods Study.Physical & occupational therapy in pediatricsParents of children with developmental delays or disabilities reported less involvement and perceived less supportive daycare or preschool environments than parents of children without delays. Parents wanting change most often described child-care tasks and peer groups, but this does not prove any strategy works.
• OTQualitative2016Latino Families' Experiences With Autism Services: Disparities, Capabilities, and Occupational Justice.OTJR : occupation, participation and healthParents described some child improvements they linked to state-funded ABA, but most modified or opted out because required intensity, home presence, and rigid routines did not fit family life.
• OTSLPQualitative2017'Maybe I will give some help…. maybe not to help the eyes but different help': an analysis of care and support of children with visual impairment in community settings in Malawi.Child: care, health and developmentCarers of young Malawian children with visual impairment said play and communication were limited by eye pain, unsafe surroundings, stigma and lack of advice. They used touch, sound and routine narration to help children understand the world.
• PTOTCase-Control2017Abnormal EEG Responses to TMS During the Cortical Silent Period Are Associated With Hand Function in Chronic Stroke.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairIn chronic stroke, brain stimulation with brain-wave recording during active thumb contraction showed abnormal brain responses and a longer pause in muscle activity than controls. Hand-function links were tentative and not confirmed.
• OTSurvey2017Impact of Grandchild Caregiving on African American Grandparents.Occupational therapy in health careMost African American grandparent caregivers enjoyed caring for grandchildren. Grandchild behavioral problems were linked to negative health and leisure effects. Co-residence and daily care were linked to negative leisure effects, and co-residence was linked to negative financial impact.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2017Markerless motion capture systems as training device in neurological rehabilitation: a systematic review of their use, application, target population and efficacy.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationMost markerless motion capture rehab studies used Kinect in stroke, training upper or lower limbs. Patients improved on balance or arm tests, but few trials, low quality and varied protocols mean efficacy is not proven.
• OTOther2017A few of my favorite things: circumscribed interests in autism are not accompanied by increased attentional salience on a personalized selective attention task.Molecular autismAutistic participants ignored images of their special interests when the word task was hard, unlike neurotypical participants, who stayed distracted by interest images at every difficulty level. Reported interest strength was similar in both groups.
• OTQualitative2016Establishing the Cultural Equivalence of the Young Children's Participation and Environment Measure (YC-PEM) for Use in Singapore.Physical & occupational therapy in pediatricsEven though Singapore uses English, many YC-PEM items needed changes for young children’s participation. Activity examples, wording, and item order were revised. Parents understood instructions, although providers worried the questionnaire was lengthy.
• OTOther2016Brief biopsychosocially informed education can improve insurance workers' back pain beliefs: Implications for improving claims management behaviours.Work (Reading, Mass.)Insurance workers who received two short biopsychosocial education sessions reported more positive back pain beliefs and rated their self-reported claims management change 4.8 out of 10 on average. No control group means this does not prove the education caused those changes.
• PTOTOther2016Modifying Kinect placement to improve upper limb joint angle measurement accuracy.Journal of hand therapy : official journal of the American Society of Hand TherapistsPlacing a Kinect sensor at 45° elevation in front of the shoulder gave better upper limb reaching angle accuracy than the usual horizontal setup. Wrist range was still too inaccurate for clinical use.
• OTOther2016Differences in active range of motion measurements in the upper extremity of patients with writer's cramp compared with healthy controls.Journal of hand therapy : official journal of the American Society of Hand TherapistsOnly 5 of 38 upper-extremity motion measurements differed between 8 people with writer's cramp and 8 controls. Some finger movements were limited, others excessive, and index finger knuckle flexion decreased with longer disease and worse handwriting.
• PTOTRCT2017The effect of virtual reality program on the cognitive function and balance of the people with mild cognitive impairment.Journal of physical therapy scienceIn 24 adults with mild cognitive impairment, four weeks of virtual reality tasks improved memory, concentration and balance scores, while traditional occupational therapy did not. The study did not test whether changes lasted.