Effects of a visual perception-based occupational therapy program on reading and motor skills in children with developmental dyslexia: Single blind randomized cross-over study design.

This study aimed to examine the effects of a visual praxis-based occupational therapy (VPOT) program on reading and motor skills for children with developmental dyslexia (DD). Forty-two children were included in the study. Additionally, before VPOT, the Reading-Aloud and Reading-Comprehension Test 2 (ORSRC-2) and the Bruininks-Oseretsky Motor-Proficiency-Test-2-Brief Form (BOT2-BF) were applied to the participants. According to the study design, VPOT was applied to two sessions per week for 8 weeks to group A. During this period, group B was accepted as the control group. At the end of these 8 weeks, evaluation tests were applied to both groups. Then, group A was defined as the control group and Group B as the intervention group, and VPOT was applied to Group B. At the end of another 8 weeks, evaluation tests were applied to both groups for the third time. When the final ORSRC-2 results were examined, VPOT was found to be an effective program for improving reading skills. Additionally, when the final BOT2-BF results were examined, VPOT was determined to be effective in improving motor skills (p < 0.05). We believe that it is important to carry out comprehensive studies such as the VPOT program to solve problems in the physical and learning activities of children with DD.

Psychometric properties of the Canadian occupational performance measure in older individuals.

Background/aim: The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) is a person-centered assessment tool frequently used to identify occupational problems in older individuals and establish goals for geriatric rehabilitation. This study aims to assess the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of COPM (COPM-TR) in older people. Materials and methods: One hundred older people completed the COPM-TR, and 25 of them participated in a retest within two weeks. The convergent construct validity analyses of the COPM-TR included conducting correlation analyses between the COPM-TR and the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) and Lawton Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (Lawton-IADL) scales. The Performance and Satisfaction subscales were subjected to an item analysis for the internal consistency of the COPM-TR. A test-retest analysis was conducted to investigate the reliability. Results: According to convergent construct validity analysis, it was found that there is a moderate correlation between COPM-TR performance and FIM (r = 0.51), and a strong correlation between Lawton IADL (r = 0.62). Similarly, there was a strong correlation between COPM-TR satisfaction and FIM (r = 0.61) and Lawton IADL (r = 0.61). Test-retest reliability was excellent for performance score and good for satisfaction score (ICC values 0.92; 0.78, respectively). COPM-TR showed excellent-high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.92 for performance and 0.88 for satisfaction). Conclusion: COPM-TR is a valid and reliable tool that can be used to assess occupational performance in older people.

Occupational performance and participation in children with developmental coordination disorders before and during Covid-19.

INTRODUCTION: Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects children's occupational performance and participation. It is known that the Covid pandemic has adversely affected the whole world in many areas. We aim to investigate the occupational performance and participation of children with DCD before and during the COVID-19. METHODS: Sixty-five children aged 5-12 years included in the study were assessed by the Canadian Measure of Occupational Performance and the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were detected in occupational performance and satisfaction scores (p < 0.01). Additionally, except for 'involvement in the home environment' (p > 0.05), there were statistically significant differences in all other areas of participation (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The occupational performance and participation of children with DCD are impacted during COVID-19. In addition, it is seen that the desire of families to change regarding participation has increased due to COVID-19. It would be beneficial to include strategies to improve these areas in the rehabilitation processes.

Effects of the Visual Praxis-Based Occupational Therapy Education Program on different kinds of reading skills: Single-blind randomized follow-up study.

This study aims to examine the long-term effects of Visual Praxis Based Occupational Therapy Program (VP-OTP) on the reading skills of children with Developmental Dyslexia. A total of 126 children with Developmental Dyslexia participated in the study. The participants were then divided into two groups (Intervention and Control groups) of equal sizes (n = 63) using a random number generator without replacement. The intervention group received VP-OTP in two weekly sessions for 8 weeks. All participants were assessed with the Oral Reading Skills and Comprehension Test-II (Sobat®-II) at three time points; pretest, post-test, and follow-up. The intervention group showed promising results as the Sobat®-II's Reading Accuracy, Reading Speed, Fluent Reading, Reading Comprehension Total Score significantly increased after the intervention (p ≤ 0.05) and the scores were maintained at the follow-up (p > 0.05). The VP-OTP intervention provided a maintained improvement in reading skills of children with Developmental Dyslexia.

Evaluation of psychometric properties of Turkish version of assessment of work performance among adults with mild intellectual disabilities.

BACKGROUND: Assessment of work performance (AWP) is a test for assessing work performance and can be utilised in matching person-work and applying effective interventions. It was aimed to adjust and to evaluate the validity and reliability of AWP in Turkish with individuals with mild intellectual disability (ID). METHODS: The study was conducted with 243 individuals with mild ID. Of the 243 participants, data gathered from 105 individuals was used to conduct exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and remaining data (138 individuals) was used to conduct confirmatory factor analysis. Internal consistency, construct validity, test-retest reliability, criterion-related validity and inter-rater reliability were analyzed. RESULTS: The AWP showed average to good reliability for individuals with mild ID. The construct validity and internal consistency of the AWP were confirmed with satisfying results; test-retest reliability (ICC >0.92) and inter-rater reliability (ICC >0.90) were excellent for all domains. The EFA resulted three factors, explaining 66.46% variance; and CFA resulted average fit. CONCLUSION: AWP is valid and reliable for evaluating the working performances of individuals with mild ID.

Where Exactly Is the Therapist in Virtual Reality and Game-Based Rehabilitation Applications? A Randomized Controlled Trial in Children with Specific Learning Disability.

Objective: Children with specific learning disability (SLD) experience problems in visual perception that influence academical skills and activities of daily living. Virtual reality and game-based rehabilitation applications are becoming increasingly popular in rehabilitation, including visual perception rehabilitation. However, the usage of commercially available and easily accessible games as intervention tools raises the question whether rehabilitation conducted with these games is really rehabilitation, or just casual gameplay. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effects of a nonactively supervised (game-based intervention program [GIP]) and an actively supervised (therapist guided game-based intervention program [TGGIP]) on the visual perception skills of children with SLD. Materials and Methods: This study was designed as a single-blind randomized, controlled trial of a TGGIP on visual perception skills in children with SLD compared with the self-oriented, nonsupervised program (GIP). A total of 138 children with SLD participated in the study and were randomly divided into two groups (TGGIP and GIP). Children's visual perception skills were assessed with Motor-Free Visual Perception Test-3. Results: Both groups showed significant improvements in visual perception after the intervention programs (P < 0.05). However, the TGGIP (a supervised and structured intervention program) was significantly more effective in improving the visual perception skills compared with the GIP (a standard, nonsupervised, and unstructured intervention program) (P < 0.05). Conclusion: We think that the TGGIP methodology that we designed acts as a facilitator for therapists in using trademarked, commercially available, and easily accessible games for structured and supervised virtual reality and game-based rehabilitation applications.

Effects of vocational rehabilitation group intervention on motivation and occupational self-awareness in individuals with intellectual disabilities: A single blind, randomised control study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a vocational rehabilitation group intervention on motivation and occupational self-competence in individuals with intellectual disability. METHODS: A single-blind, randomised controlled study design was used. The intervention group (IG) received the group-based intervention alongside the individualised vocational rehabilitation (IVR) and the control group (CG) continued receiving only the IVR for 8 weeks. In order to assess motivation and occupational self-competence, Objective Achievement Motivation Test (OLMT) and Occupational Self-Assessment (OSA) were used. RESULTS: Forty-nine individuals were enrolled to the study and randomised into IG (n = 24) and CG (n = 25). Two groups were similar at baseline in terms of demographic qualities, OLMT and OSA scores (p > 0.05). After the intervention, the IG showed significant improvements in all assessments (p < 0.05), however the CG showed improvements only in OLMT sub-tests (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The group-based intervention program was effective in increasing occupational self-competence and motivation.

Validity and reliability of the Turkish versions of Assessment of Children's Hand Skills and Children's Hand-Skills Ability Questionnaire in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy.

BACKGROUND: Assessment of Children's Hand Skills (ACHS) and Children's Hand-Skills Ability Questionnaire (CHSQ) are interconnected hand skills assessment tools that together contain parent questionnaire and observational assessment. With this quality, ACHS and CHSQ enable the therapist to obtain information about the child's real-life performances as well as to conduct a clinical observational assessment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity and reliability of the Turkish versions of ACHS and CHSQ in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (HCP). METHODS: A total of 112 children with HCP between 2 and 12 years of age were included. All participants were subjected to ACHS, CHSQ, Shriners Hospital Upper Extremity Evaluation (SHUEE) and ABILHAND-Kids. Convergent construct validity was investigated through analysing the relationship between ACHS and SHUEE and between CHSQ and ABILHAND-Kids. Discriminative construct validity was investigated through analysing the differences between genders for CHSQ and ACHS. For reliability, test-retest interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and internal consistency Cronbach's alpha were calculated and analysed. RESULTS: ACHS showed very strong relationships with SHUEE's spontaneous functional analysis (r = 0.86) and grip-release function (r = 0.86) parameters with a strong relationship with positional dynamic analysis (r = 0.78). CHSQ's leisure (r = 0.80), school/education (r = 0.75) and activities of daily living (r = 0.76) domains showed strong relationships with the ABILHAND-Kids. There was no difference between genders for ACHS and all domains of CHSQ (p > 0.05). All domains and total score of ACHS and CHSQ had perfect test-retest reliability (ICC > 0.90). ACHS had perfect internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.98); CHSQ had very high internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.84). CONCLUSIONS: The Turkish versions of ACHS (ACHS-TR) and CHSQ (CHSQ-TR) are valid and reliable hand skills assessment tools in children with HCP.