Measurement Tools in Occupational Therapy Practice Primary School Setting: A Scoping Review.
Putri Ashari, Megumi Shiraishi, Yu Ishibashi
Most measurement tools used by school-based OTs focus on handwriting and cognitive skills.
Only four of 52 tools address the classroom environment, such as teacher support or attitudes.
Key findings
1Only four measurement tools address environmental factors (support/relationships and attitudes), while the rest focus on body function, activities, and participation.
2The most frequently used tools (MHA, Beery-Buktenica VMI, PHAT, ETCH) all assess handwriting performance, focusing on body function and activities/participation related to fine motor skills.
352 measurement tools were identified from 41 articles; 38 assessed body function (mostly mental functions) and 29 assessed activities and participation related to learning.
Still to come
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Limited to English-language articles published after 2007, so tools developed in other languages or before the ICF-CY was published are not included. Only included articles conducted by occupational therapists, so measurement tools used by other school professionals (e.g., educational psychologists) are not captured. Restricted to primary school students aged 5 to 12, so findings do not extend to early childhood or secondary school settings. As a scoping review, it maps the breadth of available tools but does not appraise the quality or psychometric rigor of each included study.
Declared interests
No funding was received for this manuscript.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume the most commonly used tools (MHA, VMI, PHAT, ETCH) are the best fit for your students. The review notes the VMI may lack sensitivity to detect handwriting improvements from OT intervention, and the ETCH has low interrater reliability. All four are handwriting-focused and do not assess the classroom environment.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →