Hong Kong journal of occupational therapy : HKJOT最新文献

Background: Academic integrity is viewed as honest and responsible scholarship and the moral code of academia. Reported incidences of academic dishonesty among health professional students are widespread and may be an indicator of future unprofessional behaviour in the workplace. Aim: This study investigated the potential predictors of academic integrity in undergraduate and graduate-entry masters occupational therapy students. Method: Occupational therapy students from five universities (n = 701 participants; 609 undergraduates; 92 graduate-entry masters) were recruited. Data were collected via a two-part self-report questionnaire that included six standardised scales: Academic Dishonesty Scale; Academic Dishonesty in the Classroom Setting Scale; Academic Dishonesty in the Clinical/Practice Education Setting Scale; Moral Development Scale for Professionals; Academic Dishonesty Tendency Scale; and Perceived Academic Sources of Stress. Data analysis involved multi-linear regression analyses with bootstrapping. Result: Significant predictors of academic integrity in occupational therapy students included age, gender, grade point average, public meaning, moral practice, general tendency towards cheating, tendency towards dishonesty in the conduct and reporting of research findings, tendency towards not providing appropriate references and acknowledgements and pressures to perform well academically. Conclusion: These findings will assist educators in identifying vulnerable students potentially prone to academic integrity infringements and implementing proactive strategies with them. Further studies are recommended to explore further predictors of students' academic integrity.

Objective: While musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) and physical strength have been extensively studied in health care professionals, little attention has been paid to health care support staff, such as patient care assistants and operation patient assistants, whose jobs are physically demanding. The purpose of this paper was to examine the musculoskeletal symptoms and physical strength of newly recruited health care support staff.

Method: Convenience sampling was conducted on 111 newly employed health care support staff in a public hospital. A custom-made pre-placement examination was performed. Data were analysed using descriptive, correlation, and regression analyses.

Results: Nearly one-third (32%) of the newly recruited health care support staff had experienced musculoskeletal symptoms in at least one body part during the preceding 12 months. Two-thirds (68%) of subjects were physically inactive, and sixty percent was overweight or obese. Handgrip strength was weaker than the local norm. The subjects' dominant handgrip strength, bilateral lifting, pushing, and pulling force were significantly correlated. Only bilateral lifting was significantly associated with MSD among the newly recruited health care workers.

Conclusions: This study reports the baseline prevalence of MSD symptoms in the newly recruited health care support staff. Their sedentary lifestyle and suboptimal physical strength may render them susceptible to occupational injuries and disease. An effective occupational health programme that provides periodic health surveillance should be considered for high-risk health care workers to allow proper interventions in a timely manner.

Background: Occupational balance, a fundamental concept in occupational therapy, is the arrangement of right amount and variety of occupations contributes to a person's health and well-being. This study was aimed to investigate the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Occupational Balance Questionnaire (OB-Quest) for people with insomnia.

Methods: The OB-Quest was translated into traditional Chinese and reviewed by an expert panel for content validity, cultural relevance and translation accuracy. Internal consistency, factor analysis and convergent validity, as well as test-retest reliability, were explored.

Results: The participants (n = 205), 115 adults with insomnia and 90 adults without insomnia, completed a survey of demographic background, the Chinese version of OB-Quest and the Chinese Insomnia Severity Index (C-ISI). The Chinese version of OB-Quest demonstrated excellent test-retest reliability (ICC= 0.98) and good internal consistency (Cronbach's α  =  0.80). Factor analysis indicated that a single-factor solution explained 42% of the variance, and 9 out of 10 items had a factor loading of 0.4 or above. The Chinese version of OB-Quest had significant correlations with C-ISI (r = -0.88; p < 0.001). A significant difference was found in occupational balance between groups with different levels of insomnia severity and without insomnia (F = 169.72; p < 0.001). As in a previous study, age, living environment and life role had no significant relationship with occupational balance.

Conclusion: The Chinese version of OB-Quest is a short, easy to understand and culturally relevant assessment for Chinese. It demonstrates satisfactory psychometric properties and had significant correlations with insomnia.

Objective: Upper limb paralysis, which is a sequela of stroke, limits patients' activities of daily living and lowers quality of life. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of peripheral nerve stimulation on hemiparetic upper limb functional recovery in chronic stroke patients undergoing low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and occupational therapy.

Methods: The subjects were chronic stroke patients who participated in a two-week inpatient programme including repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and occupational therapy. There were two groups of patients: the peripheral nerve stimulation group (11 patients who underwent peripheral nerve stimulation) and the control group (11 patients who previously participated in the same inpatient programme but without peripheral nerve stimulation, selected via propensity score matching). The peripheral nerve stimulation group had 1 h of peripheral nerve stimulation on the median and ulnar nerves during occupational therapy. The outcome measures were the Wolf Motor Function Test, Fugl-Meyer Assessment, and Motor Activity Log.

Results: Wolf Motor Function Test, Fugl-Meyer Assessment, and Motor Activity Log showed significant improvement after the intervention in the peripheral nerve stimulation group. Particularly, the Fugl-Meyer Assessment hand score significantly improved in the peripheral nerve stimulation group compared to that in the control group (median change: 2 versus 0; p = 0.021, r = 0.49).

Conclusion: The combined use of peripheral nerve stimulation with occupational therapy after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation may result in a better functional recovery of in hemiparetic upper limb. Peripheral nerve stimulation with stimulation above the sensory threshold and below the motor threshold is easy to combine with occupational therapy upper limb function training and is therefore clinically useful.

Background: Previous studies have reported a relationship between upper limb motor function and activities of daily living. However, their relationship after removing the influence of lower limb motor function has not been clarified.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between Fugl-Meyer assessment upper limb and total Functional Independence Measure motor score and between Fugl-Meyer assessment upper limb and each item contained in Functional Independence Measure motor score after eliminating the influence of the motor function of the affected lower limb.

Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study included 58 subacute stroke patients. To investigate the relationship between the Fugl-Meyer assessment upper limb and total Functional Independence Measure motor score before and after removing the influence of Fugl-Meyer assessment lower limb, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and partial correlation analysis were used. Additionally, the relationship between Fugl-Meyer assessment upper limb and each item of Functional Independence Measure motor score after removing the influence was assessed.

Results: Before removing the influence of Fugl-Meyer assessment lower limb, Fugl-Meyer assessment upper limb was strongly correlated with total Functional Independence Measure motor score (r = 0.74, p < 0.001). However, it became weak after removing the influence (r = 0.27, p = 0.04). Regarding each item of Functional Independence Measure motor score, Fugl-Meyer assessment upper limb was correlated with grooming (r = 0.27, p = 0.04), bathing (r = 0.28, p = 0.03), dressing upper body (r = 0.33, p = 0.01), dressing lower body (r = 0.31, p = 0.02), and stair-climbing (r = 0.31, p = 0.02) after removing the influence.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that the relationship between the upper limb motor function and activities of daily living is strongly influenced by lower limb motor function.

Purpose/aim: Spatial neglect is caused by damage to neural networks critical for spatial attention. Spatial neglect without proper treatment impedes rehabilitation outcomes. Prism adaptation treatment, a visuomotor protocol, has been used with stroke survivors with spatial neglect to improve function. This case report explored the feasibility and potential effects of prism adaptation treatment in an individual with spatial neglect after glioblastoma removal.

Methods: Feasibility was designed and tested to include acceptability and implementation. Exploratory aim on the effectiveness of the intervention was determined using the Catherine Bergego Scale via the Kessler Foundation Neglect Assessment Process, star cancellation, line bisection and scene copying.

Results: The patient reported favouring the treatment. Eight sessions, one session a day, were completed over two weeks. The patient's spatial neglect symptoms reduced on all assessments.

Conclusion: Prism adaptation treatment was feasible and effective; however, further research is needed to understand the complete benefits of prism adaptation treatment in this population.

Introduction: Health professionals who work in mental healthcare settings need to use standardised, objective instruments; however, it is also extremely important that they maintain a client-focused perspective. The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity and reliability of the 'Traditional Chinese version of the Occupational Self-Assessment' (TC-OSA).

Methods: A total of 593 participants with mental illnesses participated in the study. The data were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis as well as the Rasch measurement model.

Results: The results of our analysis revealed that the TC-OSA encompasses four domains: self-performance (11 items), self-habituation (5 items), self-volition (5 items) and environment (8 items). Most of the items within each domain were found to have a good fit with the Rasch measurement model, whereas the CFA index was found to have a good fit for only three of the domains, the one exception being the environment domain.

Conclusions: We suggest applying the scale in clinical practice to identify the priority of intervention and as a measure for changes in outcomes. Further development and refinement of the environmental domain is guaranteed.

Background/objective: Physical, cognitive and psychological factors such as self-efficacy and motivation affect participation in populations with acquired disabilities. Volition is defined as a person's motivation for participating in occupation. The concept of 'volition' expands similar concepts and theories, which focus mostly on cognitive processes that influence motivation. Although volition seems to affect participation, the association between these two concepts has not been examined in populations with acquired disabilities. This scoping review explored this association.

Methods: The literature review used a structured five-stage framework, according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Seven electronic databases (CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science, SCOPUS, The Cochrane Library-Wiley, OTseeker) and Google Scholar were searched for relevant articles, published in English from January 2001 to May 2018.

Results: A total of 18 articles, relating to populations with various diagnoses were included. Two directly examined volition and participation and showed a positive association between them. Other articles discussed the effect of participants' chronic condition on their volition and participation, the effect of volition on participation, or the effect on participation of an intervention addressing volition.

Conclusions: An acquired disability affects both volition and participation, and volition seems to affect participation among people with acquired disabilities. Few articles showed positive effects of interventions that addressed clients' volition, on participation. Further research should include additional health conditions and types of literature, to better understand the association between these concepts. This understanding will contribute to the development of occupational therapy interventions that emphasise volition, in order to improve participation outcomes.

Background: Deep brain stimulation is a surgical treatment for Parkinson's disease. Its impacts on motor symptoms are widely reported; however, little is known about the broader impact of deep brain stimulation on the community lives of people with Parkinson's disease. Lifespace is a measure of lived community mobility, providing an indication of community access and participation.

Aims: This pilot study explored the feasibility of remotely monitoring the qualitative and quantitative community outcomes related to deep brain stimulation.

Methods: A longitudinal mixed methods study with a convergent design was undertaken exploring the lifespace, quality of life, life satisfaction and lived experiences of people with Parkinson's disease before and after deep brain stimulation. Data were collected through questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and a smartphone-based application which collected geolocation data.

Results: Quantitative and qualitative data from eight participants living with Parkinson's disease were analysed and integrated. At baseline, participants had a median age of 68 years and a median Hoehn and Yahr score of 2. Measuring a range of community-based outcomes indicated different change trajectories for individuals across outcomes. Key content areas were developed from the qualitative data: participation in occupations and travel and home. This study indicates the potential value of including geolocation data-based lifespace collection in metropolitan and regional areas.

Conclusions: Monitoring lifespace in conjunction with subjective measures provides insights into the complex and individually varied experiences. Further research could explore the impacts of deep brain stimulation on occupations and community participation to gain a deeper understanding of the related needs and support clinical approaches.