Effectiveness of Occupational Therapy Interventions for Adults With Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVE

We reviewed the efficacy of occupational therapy-related interventions for adults with rheumatoid arthritis.

METHOD

We examined 51 Level I studies (19 physical activity, 32 psychoeducational) published 2000-2014 and identified from five databases. Interventions that focused solely on the upper or lower extremities were not included.

RESULTS

Findings related to key outcomes (activities of daily living, ability, pain, fatigue, depression, self-efficacy, disease symptoms) are presented. Strong evidence supports the use of aerobic exercise, resistive exercise, and aquatic therapy. Mixed to limited evidence supports dynamic exercise, Tai Chi, and yoga. Among the psychoeducation interventions, strong evidence supports the use of patient education, self-management, cognitive-behavioral approaches, multidisciplinary approaches, and joint protection, and limited or mixed evidence supports the use of assistive technology and emotional disclosure.

CONCLUSION

The evidence supports interventions within the scope of occupational therapy practice for rheumatoid arthritis, but few interventions were occupation based.

Development of a web-based and mobile app to support physical activity in individuals with rheumatoid arthritis: results from the second step of a co-design process

Background

Long-term adherence to physical activity recommendations remains challenging for most individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) despite evidence for its health benefits.

Objective

The aim of this study was to provide basic data on system requirement specifications for a Web-based and mobile app to self-manage physical activity. More specifically, we explored the target user group, features of the future app, and correlations between the system requirements and the established behavior change techniques (BCTs).

Methods

We used a participatory action research design. Qualitative data were collected using multiple methods in four workshops. Participants were 5 individuals with RA, a clinical physiotherapist, an officer from the Swedish Rheumatism Association, a Web designer, and 2 physiotherapy researchers. A taxonomy was used to determine the degree of correlation between the system requirements and established BCTs.

Results

Participants agreed that the future Web-based and mobile app should be based on two major components important for maintaining physical activity: (1) a calendar feature for goal setting, planning, and recording of physical activity performance and progress, and (2) a small community feature for positive feedback and support from peers. All system requirements correlated with established BCTs, which were coded as 24 different BCTs.

Conclusions

To our knowledge, this study is the first to involve individuals with RA as co-designers, in collaboration with clinicians, researchers, and Web designers, to produce basic data to generate system requirement specifications for an eHealth service. The system requirements correlated to the BCTs, making specifications of content and future evaluation of effectiveness possible.

Lead users' ideas on core features to support physical activity in rheumatoid arthritis: a first step in the development of an internet service using participatory design

BACKGROUND

Despite the growing evidence of the benefits of physical activity (PA) in individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the majority is not physically active enough. An innovative strategy is to engage lead users in the development of PA interventions provided over the internet. The aim was to explore lead users' ideas and prioritization of core features in a future internet service targeting adoption and maintenance of healthy PA in people with RA.

METHODS

Six focus group interviews were performed with a purposively selected sample of 26 individuals with RA. Data were analyzed with qualitative content analysis and quantification of participants' prioritization of most important content.

RESULTS

Six categories were identified as core features for a future internet service: up-to-date and evidence-based information and instructions, self-regulation tools, social interaction, personalized set-up, attractive design and content, and access to the internet service. The categories represented four themes, or core aspects, important to consider in the design of the future service: (1) content, (2) customized options, (3) user interface and (4) access and implementation.

CONCLUSIONS

This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first study involving people with RA in the development of an internet service to support the adoption and maintenance of PA.Participants helped identifying core features and aspects important to consider and further explore during the next phase of development. We hypothesize that involvement of lead users will make transfer from theory to service more adequate and user-friendly and therefore will be an effective mean to facilitate PA behavior change.

Effective home programme intervention for adults: a systematic review

Objective: To summarize evidence on effective home programme intervention for adults and describe characteristics of successful home programmes.

Data sources: A search was conducted of MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, EMBASE, DARE, The Physiotherapy Evidence Database, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, OTSeeker and Google Scholar and references in manuscripts retrieved.

Review methods: Two independent reviewers determined whether retrieved study abstracts met inclusion criteria: human subjects; adults; home programme intervention; systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials or controlled trials. Included papers were appraised for study design, participants, type and intensity of intervention, and outcomes. Methodological quality of trials was rated using the PEDro scale (1–10 highest).

Results: Thirty-two papers were retrieved (6 systematic reviews, 26 trials). The 23 randomized controlled trials and 3 controlled trials were appraised. All the retrieved papers were level 1a, 1b or 2b evidence. Major findings were: (a) home programme intervention was more effective than no intervention at all; (b) home programme intervention was equally effective to expert-provided therapy, except when therapeutic modalities were used; and (c) different instruction formats produced similar outcomes. Home programmes with favourable outcomes were more likely to: involve the patients in establishing the programme; intervene on the person, task and environment; and provide feedback about progress. Dose did not appear to be related to outcome.

Conclusion: There is grade 1A evidence supporting the effectiveness of home programmes for adults. Home programmes are as effective as expert-provided therapy.