Hong Kong Journal of Occupational Therapy

Theoretical perspectives vary in considering whether visual perceptual skills and visual-motor integration (VMI) skills are related, interdependent skill sets, or two discrete skill constructs.

This study investigated whether motor-reduced/free visual perceptual skill constructs were predictive of motor-enhanced VMI skill constructs.

A total of 45 typically developing children aged 6–12 years completed the Developmental Test of Visual Perception-Second Edition (DTVP-2) and the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills-Third Edition (TVPS-3). Four multiple linear regression analyses were completed with the four DTVP-2 motor-enhanced VMI subscales being the dependent (criterion) variables and the seven TVPS-3 motor-reduced subscales being the independent variables.

The total variance accounted for in the four DTVP-2 VMI skill constructs by all the seven TVPS-3 skill constructs ranged from 29.3% to 60.10%. In the first regression analysis, the TVPS-3 Visual Sequential Memory and TVPS-3 Visual FigureGround constructs explained 5.40% and 4.90%, respectively, of the variance in the DTVP-2 Eye Hand Coordination construct. In the second regression, the TVPS-3 Visual Sequential Memory and TVPS-3 Visual Figure–Ground constructs accounted for 5.60% and 3.10%, respectively, of the DTVP-2 Copying construct's variance. The third analysis revealed that the TVPS-3 Visual Memory and TVPS-3 Visual Form Constancy constructs represented 6.20% and 7.90%, respectively, of the DTVP-2 Spatial Relations construct's variance. In the fourth and final regression analysis, the TVPS-3 Visual Sequential Memory and TVPS-3 Visual Figure–Ground construct explained 14.60% and 4.90%, respectively, of the variance in the DTVP-2 Visual-Motor Speed construct.

In the four regression analyses, specific types of motor-reduced visual perception constructs were predictive of the four specific types of motor-enhanced VMI constructs. Visual Sequential Memory and Visual FigureGround, specific types of motor-reduced visual perceptual constructs, were frequent and significant predictors of VMI skill constructs in children. It would appear that motor-reduced visual perceptual skills and motor-enhanced VMI skills as theoretical constructs are related and dependent on one another.

This study examined a group of people with cerebrovascular accidents who were in a chronic phase in a Health Care Facility for the Elderly in Japan. The model of human occupation (MOHO)-driven occupational therapy (OT) intervention was compared with interventions that were based on other theories, for example, biomechanical and neurodevelopmental frames of reference.

A total of 36 service users were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (who received MOHO-based OT) or a control group (who received “usual OT”). All the service users were assessed using the Activities of Daily Living (ADL), WHO Quality of Life 26 (QOL-26), MOS-36-Item Short Form Health (SF-36) before and after a 12-week OT intervention.

Based on the results of our study, we found that the experimental group significantly improved in ADL and QOL scores following the MOHO-based OT intervention; in fact, these scores were higher (p < .05) than before the practice. The control group, however, only improved on ADL scores following OT intervention. In addition, when compared with the control group after the interventions, the experimental group had significantly improved (p < .05) scores in the following: ADL, all five domains of QOL-26, and physical functioning, role physical, bodily pain, general health perception, social functioning of SF-36.

The MOHO-based intervention was more effective in the improvement of ADL and QOL than non-MOHO-based intervention.

The main goal of this study was to measure time spent in different activities by mothers who have children with cerebral palsy (CP), in comparison to mothers of healthy children.

This study features a descriptive, cross-sectional and matched case control design. Sixty-seven mothers aged between 25 and 50 years based on inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected. The prototype of the Farsi translation of the Mothers’ Time Use Questionnaire was used to measure the time allocations for different activities in both groups.

Mothers of children with CP spent more time in childcare activities and had a lower level of “satisfaction” in comparison with mothers who have healthy children (p < .05). There were no significant differences in other subtype activities between both groups, namely, paid work, leisure, household chores, and sleeping/resting (p > .05).

There was an imbalance over time use between childcare activities and other subtype activities in mothers who have children with CP as compared to mothers with healthy children. Mothers with children who have CP require more attention, support, and special assistance from the government to meet their specific roles as mothers.

This study aims to review the current evidence on effectiveness of mirror therapy (MT) in improving motor function of the hemiplegic upper limb (UL) among the adult stroke population in the last 12 years.

A systematic review of studies published in English from 1999 to 2011, retrieved from four electronic databases MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Sage Online, and ScienceDirect, was performed. Only articles focusing on the effects of MT to train UL motor function were included. The methodological quality of the studies was appraised based on the design and Physiotherapy Evidence Database Scale.

Of the 1,129 articles, nine (six randomised controlled trials and three case reports) were reviewed. The majority of the studies were heterogeneous in design. The review indicated that the strength of current evidence for the use of MT with the stroke population is moderate and seemed to benefit participants with subacute stroke. Little is known about its long-term sustainability, the right target group of the stroke population, and the optimal time to start intervention.

More research is needed to determine the optimal dose of therapy, optimal time to start this intervention, and the right target group. Accordingly, no firm conclusions can now be drawn on the effectiveness of MT until more evidence is present.