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 31 OF 218 · NEWEST FIRST

• OTCase-Control2017Intrainsular connectivity and somatosensory responsiveness in young children with ASD.Molecular autismIn young children with ASD, tactile seeking was tied to a brain tract linking sensory and emotional touch areas in the opposite direction from typical children. The ASD group also showed more touch defensiveness, more seeking, and poorer touch discrimination.
• OTQualitative2017From awareness to action: Sudbury, mining and occupational disease in a time of change.Work (Reading, Mass.)Interviewees said awareness of mining occupational disease has grown, but accident deaths still drew more attention. They attributed reduced exposures mainly to modernization, foreign ownership, market cycles and legislation, not awareness alone.
• OTOther2017Spanish Transcultural Adaptation and Validity of the Behavioral Inattention Test.Occupational therapy internationalSpanish stroke patients with neglect differed from those without neglect on every adapted BIT item. The test gave consistent scores and may help therapists assess everyday neglect problems.
• OTSLPCohort2017The EU-AIMS Longitudinal European Autism Project (LEAP): clinical characterisation.Molecular autismAutism symptoms looked more severe in males than females on clinician and parent interview measures, but parent questionnaires showed no sex difference and adult females reported higher symptoms. Adults had lower parent-reported symptoms than children.
• OTPilot2017Activity Disengagement: Understanding Challenges and Opportunities for Reengagement.Occupational therapy internationalOlder adults in senior housing often gave up everyday tasks and social activities or did them less. No opportunity was common for everyday tasks; no one to do it with was common for social activities. Companionship and opportunity were common answers about doing activities again.
• OTOther2017Loewenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment to Evaluate People with Addictions.Occupational therapy internationalThe LOTCA showed consistent scores and fit its structure, but it did not track executive function or memory. Use it as a quick screen, then add another test for those areas.
• OTOther2017Translational Research for Occupational Therapy: Using SPRE in Hippotherapy for Children with Developmental Disabilities.Occupational therapy internationalIn children receiving hippotherapy, HEAT scores changed in three of four domains, except static posture. A single-subject method flagged two of five children with negative static-posture predictions. Total scores can hide domain-specific problems.
• PTOTPilot2017A therapist-focused knowledge translation intervention for improving patient adherence in musculoskeletal physiotherapy practice.Archives of physiotherapyAfter a 1-hour workshop, 35 physiotherapists reported higher confidence in identifying adherence risks, assessing barriers, measuring adherence and implementing strategies. It did not show that patients adhered better or had improved outcomes.
• PTOTOther2017The feasibility of using pedometers for self-report of steps and accelerometers for measuring physical activity in adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities across an 18-month intervention.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDRAdults with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities recorded steps on 81.5% of days, but only 40.9% of those step counts were within believable ranges. Only 26.8% met the usual 4-day/10-hour accelerometer rule. These tools gave limited usable physical activity data.
• OTRCT2017Massage and Storytelling Reduce Aggression and Improve Academic Performance in Children Attending Elementary School.Occupational therapy internationalChildren in weekly massage classes plus daily paired massage, and children in weekly storytelling classes plus daily paired retelling, had fewer teacher-recorded aggressive episodes and higher mean grades than control children in an extra class plus daily paired recall in one public school.
• OTOther2017Test-Retest Reliability of a Measure of Independence in Everyday Activities: The ADL Profile.Occupational therapy internationalThe ADL Profile produced stable scores when the same therapist retested 20 people with severe TBI. Three community tasks were less stable, so a better score on those tasks may not mean change.
• OTCase Series2017Parent Training Occupational Therapy Program for Parents of Children with Autism in Korea.Occupational therapy internationalIn four Korean families, parents reported changes of more than 2-point gains on 10-point performance and satisfaction scores after five months of occupational therapy plus parent training. Parents also felt stigmatized and wanted therapist direction.
• OTPilot2017Fatigue and Activity Management Education for Individuals with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.Occupational therapy internationalFatigue severity did not change after a six-week lupus fatigue programme, though participants reported using pacing, rest breaks, and delegation. Depression scores fell from baseline to eight weeks. This was a small uncontrolled pilot.
• OTRCT2017Robotic Assistance for Training Finger Movement Using a Hebbian Model: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairHigh robotic assistance did not improve the primary hand function outcome more than low assistance, but both groups improved. Higher assistance was more motivating and was linked to more benefit for more severely impaired patients with intact proprioception.
• OTPilot2017Patient and Therapist Experiences of the SaeboFlex: A Pilot Study.Occupational therapy internationalPatients and occupational therapists described the SaeboFlex as helpful for upper-limb practice and motivation. They also reported barriers: fitting, needing help to put it on and take it off, too many repetitions, and cost. It was used with e-stim, wrist bracing, splinting, and/or casting.
• OTRCT2017Effectiveness of Information Processing Strategy Training on Academic Task Performance in Children with Learning Disabilities: A Pilot Study.Occupational therapy internationalChildren with reading disabilities had posttest scores that differed between groups in Perceive, Plan, and Perform quadrants, not in overall Recall, after six weeks of PRPP strategy training, Four-Quadrant prompting, and usual therapy. Usual therapy alone did not show clear changes in most scores.
• PTOTQualitative2017Developing the content of a locomotor disability scale for adults in Bangladesh: a qualitative study.Archives of physiotherapyInterviews with adults with mobility impairments in Bangladesh produced a 70-item locomotor disability scale covering mobility, self-care, work and leisure. It adds local activities and definitions to reduce misinterpretation.
• OTRCT2017Interrelationship between insistence on sameness, effortful control and anxiety in adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).Molecular autismAmong 71 adolescents and young adults with autism, rigid sameness behaviours, lower self-control and anxiety moved together. Each link was partly explained by the third. This does not show that treating one will change the others.
• OTOther2017Weight-supported training of the upper extremity in children with cerebral palsy: a motor learning study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationWeight-supported game play plus usual rehabilitation improved game scores and blocks moved per minute in children with CP over three days. Movement-quality tests did not show a clear improvement, and the weight-supported game plus usual therapies cannot be separated.
• OTCase Report2017Surface EMG signals in very late-stage of Duchenne muscular dystrophy: a case study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationIn one man with very late-stage Duchenne muscular dystrophy, muscle electrical signals from biceps and triceps were still measurable and could be used in a computer simulation to command elbow flexion and extension. This is a single-case report, not evidence that a device works.
• OTOther2017The Psychometric Properties of the Arabic Preschool Activity Card Sort.Occupational therapy internationalThe Arabic Preschool Activity Card Sort gave stable scores over 2 weeks and described preschool participation across several daily domains. Its links to adaptive behavior were mostly modest. Use it to ask what children do, not to prove skill.
• OTSLPRCT2017The Effectiveness of a Vocational Enablement Protocol for Employees With Hearing Difficulties: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial.Trends in hearingThe vocational enablement package did not reduce employees' need for recovery compared with usual care after 12 months. Self-acceptance improved by 0.24 points on a 1 to 5 scale, a small change; distress and self-efficacy did not differ.
• OTSLPRCT2017Teen online problem solving for teens with traumatic brain injury: Rationale, methods, and preliminary feasibility of a teen only intervention.Rehabilitation psychologyTeens and parents rated the overall online problem-solving program similarly, but parents in the teen-only group reported less benefit on several items. Teens completed a similar number of sessions with limited parent involvement as in the family version.
• PTOTPilot2017Side alternating vibration training in patients with mitochondrial disease: a pilot study.Archives of physiotherapyIn seven patients with mitochondrial myopathy, 12 weeks of side alternating vibration training raised peak jumping power by 2.8 W/kg, while standing control fell 2.7 W/kg. It was safe, but this pilot is too small to prove benefit.
• OTSystematic Review2017The Role of the Occupational Therapist in Disaster Areas: Systematic Review.Occupational therapy internationalNo disaster papers in this review had occupational therapy as the intervention. Included studies pointed to rehabilitation teams after earthquakes, especially early response, evacuation planning, and safe mobilization.
• OTCase-Control2017Attitudes toward risk and ambiguity in patients with autism spectrum disorder.Molecular autismAdults with autism were less bothered by unknown odds when winning was possible, but less willing to take known odds when losing was possible. They also changed their choices less between winning and losing situations, especially with unknown odds.
• OTQualitative2017Currency and Competence of Occupational Therapists and Consumers with Rapidly Changing Technology.Occupational therapy internationalMainstream smart home products can give people with disability useful environmental control without a specialist prescription. Occupational therapists may need to support informed purchasing and customisation, not just provide approved equipment.
• PTOTSLPCase Report2017Unexpected recovery from a vegetative state or misdiagnosis? Lesson learned from a case report.NeuroRehabilitationA woman diagnosed with a vegetative state for two years emerged into full consciousness after a passive brain connectivity test showed hidden activity typical of a minimally conscious state. This suggests she may have been misdiagnosed with functional locked-in syndrome, a condition that often goes undetected.
• OTPilot2017Establishing Concurrent Validity of the Role Checklist Version 2 with the OCAIRS in Measurement of Participation: A Pilot Study.Occupational therapy internationalThe shorter Role Checklist Version 2 and the longer OCAIRS V4 scores moved together in 20 liver transplant recipients. OTs may have a quicker way to check role participation.
• OTRCT2017Longitudinal trajectories of post-concussive and depressive symptoms in adolescents with prolonged recovery from concussion.Brain injuryAdolescents with persistent concussion symptoms and depression had lower symptom scores over six months. Higher concussion scores predicted faster depression improvement. Initial depression did not predict faster concussion improvement. The two symptom sets changed together.
• OTQualitative2017Developing and Sustaining Recovery-Orientation in Mental Health Practice: Experiences of Occupational Therapists.Occupational therapy internationalAustralian occupational therapists described recovery-oriented mental health practice as ongoing work. They sought knowledge, found fit with occupational therapy identity, maintained hope, strengthened clinical reasoning, and tried to shape supportive teams and workplaces.
• OTOther2017The Construct of the Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale Revision 4 for the Population of Taiwan.Occupational therapy internationalFor people with schizophrenia living in hospital in Taiwan, the quality-of-life scale made most sense as 29 items grouped into psychosocial, physical, and vitality scores. Four items may be removed.
• OTSystematic Review2017Principal Approaches to Understanding Occupation and Occupational Science Found in the Chilean Journal of Occupational Therapy (2001-2012).Occupational therapy international19 of 95 Chilean occupational therapy articles treated occupation as a practical way to explain behavior or support interventions; 7 treated it as an object of study.
• OTQualitative2017A Qualitative Study to Explore Ways to Observe Results of Engaging Activities in Clients with Dementia.Occupational therapy internationalExperienced occupational therapists judged dementia activities meaningful by watching concrete signs: attention to materials, starting or repeating an activity, calm, smiling, more words, social interaction, and wanting the next activity.
• OTOther2017The Development of a Measurement Tool Evaluating Knowledge Related to Sensory Processing among Graduate Occupational Therapy Students: A Process Description.Occupational therapy internationalA new online test for teaching sensory processing reasoning to OT students showed poor reliability. Students liked the case-based format but found the time limit restrictive. The tool needs revision before it can be used to assess clinical reasoning.
• OTSurvey2017Occupational Therapy Students' Perceptions of the Role of Robots in the Care for Older People Living in the Community.Occupational therapy internationalFinal-year occupational therapy students saw robots as useful assistants, especially for reminders and health monitoring. They doubted robots could provide companionship, and feared too much help could make older people less active.
• OTOther2017Validity and Reliability of the Korean Version of the Utrecht Scale for Evaluation of Rehabilitation-Participation.Occupational therapy internationalThe Korean Utrecht participation scale was most stable for stroke survivors' satisfaction with daily life. Its activity frequency and participation restriction scores were less steady over two weeks, so use them with caution.
• OTOther2017The Immediate Effects of Deep Pressure on Young People with Autism and Severe Intellectual Difficulties: Demonstrating Individual Differences.Occupational therapy internationalAfter deep pressure sessions using brushing, massage or squeezing, staff ratings showed improvement for some young people with autism and severe intellectual disability, but two of eight showed no benefit. Effects varied by person.
• OTPilot2017Exploring the Influence of an E-Learning Sensory Processing-Based Module for Graduate Level Occupational Therapy Students on Clinical Reasoning: A Pilot Study.Occupational therapy internationalFirst-year occupational therapy students scored 68% on a sensory reasoning test after an e-learning module, missing the 70% target. They excelled in relationship and attention categories but struggled with environment and culture.
• OTOther2017Evaluating Hand Function in Clients with Trigger Finger.Occupational therapy internationalIn people with trigger finger, the Purdue Pegboard Test tracked severity, while the Functional Dexterity Test and grip strength did not. All tests distinguished trigger finger from controls, and affected-hand scores related moderately to self-reported disability except the affected-hand Purdue Pegboard subtest.
• PTOTCohort2018Patient-Reported and Objectively Measured Function Before and After Reverse Shoulder Arthroplasty.Journal of geriatric physical therapy (2001)In 14 people, one year after reverse shoulder arthroplasty and a shared rehabilitation program, pain and patient-reported upper-limb function improved, but home-measured arm activity did not improve compared with before surgery.
• PTOTOther2018Development of a parent-reported questionnaire evaluating upper limb activity limitation in children with cerebral palsy.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapyA parent-completed 19-item questionnaire for children with cerebral palsy covered upper limb activity from severe to mild limits. It can be completed at home, but change after therapy has not yet been tested.
• PTOTRCT2017Effects of Inpatient Multicomponent Occupational Rehabilitation versus Less Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitation on Somatic and Mental Health: Secondary Outcomes of a Randomized Clinical Trial.Journal of occupational rehabilitationThe main outcome, sickness absence, showed no difference between the inpatient and outpatient programs. Health outcomes showed no substantial difference.
• PTOTCohort2017Changes in Function After a 6-Month Walking Intervention in Patients With Intermittent Claudication Who Are Obese or Nonobese.Journal of geriatric physical therapy (2001)Obese and non-obese patients with PAD improved walking distance and endurance similarly after 6 months of supervised treadmill walking. Obese patients who did not exercise declined significantly in function, while non-obese controls remained stable.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2018Postural disorders in mouth breathing children: a systematic review.Brazilian journal of physical therapyMouth-breathing children often show forward head posture and spinal curve changes, but the evidence linking these is weak. All included studies had low methodological quality and used inconsistent measurement tools, so clinicians should not treat this association as established.
• PTOTRCT2018Effects of stretching exercise training and ergonomic modifications on musculoskeletal discomforts of office workers: a randomized controlled trial.Brazilian journal of physical therapySix months of office stretching reduced neck, shoulder and lower back discomfort more than no treatment. Adding desk or chair changes to exercise did not improve pain more than exercise alone.
• PTOTSystematic Review2017Effects of interventions with therapeutic suits (clothing) on impairments and functional limitations of children with cerebral palsy: a systematic review.Brazilian journal of physical therapyTherapeutic suits for children with CP have weak evidence. DEFO and TheraTogs studies reported posture and gait improvements while worn. TheraSuit/AdeliSuit trials did not show a clear suit-only effect. Full body suits caused discomfort.
• PTOTOther2017Cross-cultural adaptation and measurement properties of the Brazilian version of the Exercise Preference Questionnaire(stroke).Brazilian journal of physical therapyThe Brazilian Portuguese stroke exercise preference questionnaire was usable and mostly consistent across repeat answers, but items about instructions and planning were less dependable. It can help ask patients what exercise settings they prefer, not show an exercise program works.
• PTOTPilot2017Evaluation of the Glittre-ADL test as an instrument for classifying functional capacity of individuals with cardiovascular diseases.Brazilian journal of physical therapyIn 42 adults with cardiovascular disease, Glittre ADL test times differed across groups defined by walking and activity questionnaire scores. It may add daily task information to walking tests. Normal values are unknown.
• PTOTCohort2018The Brazilian Back Complaints in the Elders (Brazilian BACE) study: characteristics of Brazilian older adults with a new episode of low back pain.Brazilian journal of physical therapyOlder Brazilian adults with new low back pain reported high pain and disability. Those with lower education and income had worse pain, more disability, and greater fear of falling. Age alone did not predict worse outcomes; the 55–74 group reported more pain than the 75+ group.