Integration of occupation based intervention in hand injury rehabilitation: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Study design: Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT). Introduction: Engagement in daily occupations and day to day activities helps to restore function in individuals with injured hands and provides a platform to practise selected occupations. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a combination of Occupation Based Intervention (OBI) and Therapeutic Exercise (TE) compared to TE alone for the rehabilitation of hand injuries. Method: A single center RCT, parallel group was conducted at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital (KLGH), Malaysia. Forty-six adult clients with hand injuries who consented to participate were randomly allocated to either the OBI + TE group or to the TE group. Results: Following a ten week intervention program, statistical significance differences were found in DASH score (TE = 18.64 +/- 14.84 vs OBI + TE = 9.50 +/- 9.14, p = 0.02); total active motion (TE = 1035.85 +/- 179.84 vs OBI + TE = 1203.65 +/- 133.60, p = 0.01); neuropathic pain (TE = 2.90 +/- 2.79 vs OBI + TE = 1.05 +/- 2.01,p = 0.02); COPM performance (TE = 7.62 +/- 2.03 vs OBI + TE = 9.53 +/- 0.64,p < 0.001); and COPM satisfaction (TE = 7.60 +/- 2.11 vs OBI + TE = 9.49 +/- 0.76, p < 0.001) in favor of OBI + TE group. Conclusion: This study highlighted the integration of OBI into hand injury rehabilitation improved outcomes for clients. (C) 2016 Hanley & Belfus, an imprint of Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.