Implementing Evidence-Based Somatosensory Rehabilitation After Stroke: Reported Practice, Documented Practice, and Barriers.
Anna Joy, Katherine E Harding, Leeanne M Carey
PMID 42742364WHAT IT FOUND
Occupational therapists valued stroke sensory care, but most did not use standardized assessments.
Files showed sensory assessment for 14 of 26 patients with upper limb impairment, and documented treatment for 7 of 12 with sensory impairment. Time, confidence, and resources were barriers.
Key findings
0114 of 15 surveyed occupational therapists reported using no standardized somatosensory assessment tools.
02Files recorded sensory assessment for 14 of 26 patients with upper limb impairment, and sensory treatment for 7 of 12 patients with documented sensory impairment.
03Lack of time was the most reported barrier, named by 12 respondents.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
This was one health service, so results may not transfer to other services. Only 15 occupational therapists responded from 22 invited, so survey findings may not represent all therapists. The file audit included 50 patients, and only 12 had documented sensory impairment. Treatment conclusions are limited. Audit data show documented work, not necessarily all work done. Survey and audit data were not linked to individual therapists. Retrospective self-report and file review can introduce recall and documentation bias.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council. Open access publishing was facilitated by Monash University. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the survey answers as proof of what patients received. File records showed sensory assessment for only 14 of 26 patients with upper limb impairment, and some survey-reported assessments had no file evidence.