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@#Introduction: A popular intervention for paediatric clients, Ayres Sensory Integration® (ASI) must adhere to sensory integration (SI) fidelity. This study describes fidelity adherence in ASI intervention by occupational therapy practitioners in Malaysia. Methods: A questionnaire on ASI fidelity was developed before being tested for its validity by seven experts and for its internal consistency and test-retest reliability by 30 occupational therapists. The questionnaire was then used nationally to collect data on ASI practitioners. Data were collected from 161 occupational therapists working in various settings. Results: The mean of the sub-scales I-CVI was excellent, ranging between 0.97 and 1.00. The total S-CVI/Ave of the form was also reported as excellent, at 0.98, with subscales S-CVI ranging between 0.75 and 1.00. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.80 for the questionnaire’s internal consistency and the ICC for test-retest reliability ranged from 0.80 to 0.95. The survey received 161 responses, indicating that most respondents perceived themselves as having ‘moderate competence’ and showing ‘high interest’ in ASI implementation. Most fidelity aspects were addressed in their practices. Majority of the respondents adhered to the process elements. It was indicated that three aspects of physical space under the structural elements could not be provided by most occupational therapists in the study. Conclusion: To implement evidence-based practice, adherence to fidelity when providing ASI is important to ascertain its effectiveness. Improvements to ensure optimal space, ASI certification, and more related training are the first steps that can be taken by the related agencies to ensure effective ASI intervention could be delivered.
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@#Occupational therapists have a significant role in driving rehabilitation by helping clients with disabilities to return to driving. To date, the services for driving rehabilitation are still limited in Malaysia. Furthermore, the current practice of driving rehabilitation in Malaysia is still underreported. Therefore, this study aims to assess occupational therapists’ challenges, attitudes, and skills towards driving rehabilitation, the sociodemographic differences, and associations between the developed constructs. A cross-sectional study was conducted from June to September 2020. A convenience sampling method was used to recruit 177 occupational therapists with at least one year of working experience in Malaysia. The questionnaire consists of three constructs: the challenges, attitudes, and skills related to driving rehabilitation. The content validity of the questionnaire was good (S-CVI/Ave= 0.992; S-CVI/UA= 0.950; modified kappa= 0.812 to 1.000). Based on the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), three items had been deleted due to low communalities. The Cronbach’s alpha for all constructs was acceptable (Cronbach’s alpha > 0.7). Experience in practicing driving rehabilitation, workplace settings, and educational level had significant differences in at least one of the constructs. Age and years graduated had a significant positive correlation with skills. This questionnaire proved to be a tool with good content validity and reliability to assess occupational therapists’ challenges, attitudes, and skills related to driving rehabilitation. In the future, qualitative studies are recommended to better understand the occupational therapists towards driving rehabilitation, especially from their personal experience.
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@#One of the most popular interventions provided by occupational therapists for pediatric clients is Ayres Sensory Integration® (ASI). Strict fidelity measures consisting of procedural and structural elements must be adhered to when using it. These fidelity measures distinguish Ayres Sensory Integration® from other sensory-based interventions. This study involved the development of a survey instrument and outlined the challenges that Malaysian occupational therapists face when using Ayres sensory integration® (ASI). The questionnaire development involved the processes of assessing its validity and reliability. A total of 161 occupational therapists working in various healthcare settings responded to the survey by answering a self-administered questionnaire. The results identified eight themes or issues: (1) Inadequate Training, (2) Resource Issues, (3) Physical Constraints, (4) Time Constraints, (5) Limited Information/ Support Provided By Family, (6) Limited Support From Management, (7) Limited Information/Support Provided By Suppliers, and (8) Issues in Implementing Evidence-Based Practice. Identifying the challenges of implementing ASI is an important aspect of improving occupational therapy assessments and interventions, which would establish the effectiveness of the interventions provided.
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@#Proficient hand dexterity (HD) may help students with learning disabilities (LDs) perform various hand tasks efficiently. Video modelling (VM) is a strategy that uses a model to improve desired skills. However, the limited study focuses on VM to improve HD among students with LDs. Therefore, this study explores VM implementation in the learning and teaching process to improve the HD of students with LDs. Five Special Education (SE) teachers who taught the Hand Manipulative Component lessons in two different states were purposefully selected and invited to participate in this study. A one-toone interview was conducted with individual SE teachers. The interview sessions were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim, and the data was analysed through thematic analysis. Rigorous approaches were performed to ensure the findings' trustworthiness, such as triangulation, member checking, and an audit trail. Four key themes emerged: conventional learning and teaching methods, challenges faced by students with LDs in improving HD, and the advantages of implementing VM in learning and teaching to improve HD and develop a video module. This study suggests SE teachers can implement VM in their learning and teaching processes to improve the HD performance of students with LDs. This current study concludes that VM can be a supportive strategy in the teaching process to improve HD performance among students with LDs.
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@#ract Various standardised assessment tools have been used to evaluate children with disabilities. However, assessment tools that provide information on the movement and function of children with specific learning disabilities (SLD) are still limited. This article provides a narrative review of the characteristics of five movement and/or function assessment tools. The strengths and limitations of the tools will be highlighted. Empirical studies on the assessment tools used are reviewed based on three criteria: (i) standardised tools; (ii) assessment of movement and/or function; (iii) applicability to children with SLD ranging from 4–17 years of age and widely used in practice. The following instruments have been included as they have been found to fulfil the criteria: (i) the Bruininks-Oseretsky test of motor proficiency-2 (BOT-2); (ii) the movement assessment battery for children-2 (MABC-2); (iii) the pediatric balance scale (PBS); (iv) the Vineland adaptive behaviour scale-II (VABS-II) and (v) the pediatric evaluation of disability inventory-computerised adaptive test (PEDI-CAT). The article presents the characteristics, strengths and limitations of five standardised assessment tools that are currently in use, which measure the movement and/or function of children with SLD. This article concludes with a discussion of recommendations for the best approaches to evaluating the movement and functional abilities of children with SLD.
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@#Introduction: Dyslexia, which is a learning disability that affects many aspects of children’s development, has a prevalence of 5 – 17%, worldwide. There are many negative perceptions towards children with dyslexia, and one of it is when there is lack of teachers’ knowledge about this problem. Aim: The objective of this study is to develop and discuss on a newly developed module on dyslexia, i.e. Dyslexia Health Education Module (DHEM) for preschool teachers, Method: This module is developed using the ADDIE model (A-Analysis, D-De- sign, D-Develop, I- Implement, E-Evaluate). The content of DHEM consists of general information for pre-school teachers about dyslexia, identification and intervention for dyslexia among children as well as its mental health implications. Results: The newly developed module was found to have a good content validity with a score of 0.7 when evaluated by eight expert panels from respective fields. The Cronbach alpha’s value for reliability test was 0.90. These findings suggest that this module is good, reliable and applicable. Discussion: It is hoped that with the development of DHEM, this would increase teachers’ knowledge on dyslexia among children in Malaysia, especially in recognizing at-risk children and consequently may lead to early intervention in managing the problem. This study also suggests that future longitudinal studies should be carried out using this module to ensure its effectiveness in the long run.
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@#Inappropriate responses towards sensory input received from the environment, also known as sensory processing difficulties (SPD) may affect daily living activities of the children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Sensory Processing Measure Home Form (SPM Home Form) as a parent report measure for SPD is available in English and other foreign languages. To enhance the applicability and meaningfulness of SPM Home Form for the Malay speaking population, a study that focuses on translating, adapting, and validating the SPM Home Form into the Malay language was conducted. The development of the Malay version of the SPM Home Form (SPM-MV Home Form) involved three steps: 1) Item evaluation, 2) Forward and backward translation, and 3) Expert review and content validity. The process of translation and adaptation of the form was performed according to standard guidelines. No item was excluded from the original SPM Home Form as all the items were considered by the expert panel as appropriate and relevance to evaluate the activity and social participation among children in Malaysia. Content validity as measured by 10 experts in occupational therapy is high. The mean of sub-scales I-CVI is between 0.96 and 1.00. The total S-CVI of the form is 0.95 with sub-scales S-CVI range between 0.82 and 1.00. Cronbach’s alpha for internal consistency was reported at 0.80 and ICC for test-retest reliability ranged from 0.80 to 0.97. The SPM-MV Home Form has high potential to be used for assessing SPD among children ages 5-12 years in Malaysia.
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@#Limitations in motor performances among children with specific learning disabilities (SLD) can lead to impaired functional skills. Thus, this study aimed to determine the level of motor performances and functional mobility, and the influence of motor performances on the functional mobility in children with SLD.
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Diabetes is often associated with dysfunction in activities of daily living (ADL), especially among older adults.Hospitalisation of older adults is often followed by decline in functional status affecting their quality of life and well-beingafter discharge. The objective of this study was to determine the functional independence in carrying out basic activitiesof daily living, its relationship with quality of life, and the factors influencing the quality of life in hospitalised olderadults with diabetes. This cross sectional study was carried out on 104 diabetic patients (mean age: 67.5 ± 9.2 years) whowere receiving in-patient treatment. Face-to-face interviews were carried out to determine functional independence usingModified Barthel Index (MBI) as well as quality of life using the World Health Organization’s Quality of Life instrument(WHOQOL-BREF). Results showed that only 37.5% (n = 39) respondents were catergorised as being fully-independent.Among the domains in MBI, using the stairs recorded the lowest score followed by mobility. The physical domain in qualityof life also recorded the lowest score compared to other domains of quality of life. There were significant (p < 0.05),positive correlations between the overall MBI scores and all domains of quality of life; physical (rs = 0.70), psychology(rs = 0.50), social (rs = 0.33) and environmental (rs = 0.25). Hierachical multiple regression analysis showed MBI scoreshad significant influence on all domains of quality of life, with the largest influence on the physical domain i.e. 36% [F(1,92) = 82.14, p < 0.01, R2 = .36]. As a conclusion, hospitalisation reduces the functional independence in carrying outbasic activities of daily living as well as the physical aspect of quality life in older adults with diabetes. Therefore, it isimportant to provide rehabilitation in activities of daily living while the elderly diabetics while undergoing in-patienttreatment in order to maintain quality of life after discharge.
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Tahfiz education has been well accepted by Muslims in Malaysia. Memorizing the Quran through rote learning can assistin improving the brain ability to process, store information and build memory. In addition, dietary intakes were reportedto contribute in the process of memorizing the Quran and to increase the levels of intelligence (IQ) among huffaz students.This cross-sectional study was conducted to measure and to determine the correlation between IQ and dietary intakeas well as between IQ and the level of trace elements among students in selected tahfiz schools and non-tahfiz school inSelangor. Questionnaires were used to obtain demographic data. Dietary intake was assessed via 3 days dietary record.Levels of trace elements in the nail samples were analyzed by using ICP-MS. Test for intelligence using WASI-II wasconducted to measure the students’ IQ. The results showed that there was a moderate positive correlation between IQ andcarbohydrate (r = 0.425, p < 0.001, a weak positive correlation between IQ and energy (r = 0.260, p < 0.05), vitaminB6 (r = 0.189, p < 0.05), vitamin B12 (r = 0.207, p < 0.05) and vitamin C (r = 0.211, p < 0.05). The levels of traceelements in nail samples showed no correlation with IQ, whereas there were moderate positive correlations between IQand dietary zinc (r = 0.375, p < 0.001) as well as between IQ and dietary iron (r = 0.303, p < 0.001). There was also amoderate positive correlation between IQ and the level of memorization (r = 0.375, p < 0.001). The results of stepwisemultiple linear regression showed that al-Quran memorization influence the level of IQ by 20 %. As a conclusion, dietaryintake of certain nutrients including energy, vitamins and selected trace elements can potentially improve memorizationactivities and also IQ.