Abstract
Objective:To determine the effectiveness of Occupational therapy (OT) in improving activities of daily living performance in complete cervical tetraplegic patients.Methods:A quasi experimental study was conducted at Paraplegic Center Peshawar from May 2018 to March 2019. Seventy two spinal cord injury patients with complete cervical tetraplegia having age 18-60 years were included in the study using non probability convenience sampling technique. A trained Occupational therapist conducted two occupational therapy sessions per day, three times a week on alternative days for a period of six weeks. Self-care portion of Spinal cord injury independence measure (SCIM) was used to collect pre and post data. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.Results:Mean age of the participants was 30.21±13.52.Majority of the participants were (n= 61, 84.7%) male while remaining 11 (15.3%) participants were female. Pre self-care total score was 0.39±0.987 and post self-care total score was 7.17±5.536. There was significant differences (P value <0.05) between pre and post scores of feeding, upper & lower body bathing, upper & lower body dressing, grooming and total self-care scores.Conclusion:Occupational therapy significantly improves activities of daily living performance in complete cervical tetraplegic spinal cord injury patients.
Highlights
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating injury and is associated with incredible human sufferings and financial costs.[1]
Occupational therapy is a main part of rehabilitation process of SCI patients which deals with problems related to self-care and ADLs.[11]
Previous studies reported that Occupational therapy (OT) focused on ADL training and self-care activities can improve functional independence and can help these patients to achieve good rehabilitation outcomes.[18,19]
Summary
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating injury and is associated with incredible human sufferings and financial costs.[1]. SCI patients with injury at cervical level can’t perform even simple activities such as self eating, dressing and grooming etc. Because of impaired upper limb motor functions.[5] That’s the reason these patients remain bed bounded and remain dependent for the rest of their life.[6] OT assists these patients in returning to a productive and fulfilling life by enabling them to perform their self-care activities. With the help of adaptive or supportive equipments and through regular upper limb activities, Occupational therapist train cervical SCI patients to perform their ADLs independently.[5] Besides optimization of functional independence, OT training helps in improving community integration and prevention of secondary complications.[7]
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