Occupational Therapy Goal Achievement for People with Stroke: A Retrospective Study.
Hashem Abu Tariah, Amal Saud Aljehani, Dana Yasser Alenazi and 2 others
PMID 32410926WHAT IT FOUND
Most goals written for stroke patients were not functional and lacked specific details like timeframes.
Only 54% of goals were achieved. Therapists should write SMART goals focusing on daily activities to improve outcomes.
Key findings
01Only 54% of occupational therapy goals were achieved.
02Most goals focused on performance skills rather than functional occupations, with only 30% classified as functional.
03Therapists did not follow standardized SMART goal writing formats, often missing timeframes and conditions.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study included both inpatients and outpatients with varying times since stroke, making it hard to generalize to specific rehabilitation phases. Data came from a single facility in Saudi Arabia, so results may not apply to other healthcare systems. The retrospective chart review relied on documentation quality, which may not reflect actual clinical practice or patient capabilities. Only 100 of 157 records had complete data, introducing potential selection bias.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that writing more functional goals will automatically increase achievement rates. This study found that functional and performance skill goals were achieved at similar rates (56%), suggesting that the quality of goal writing and other factors like length of stay may be more critical than the goal category alone.