Systematic reviews informing occupational therapy

Abstract

Objective. We sought to identify and describe the number, topics, and publishing trends of systematic reviews relevant to occupational therapy indexed in the OTseeker database. Method. We performed a cross-sectional survey of the systematic reviews contained in OTseeker in December 2011. Results. Of the 1,940 systematic reviews indexed in OTseeker, only 53 (2.7%) were published in occupational therapy journals. The most common diagnostic categories were stroke (n 5 195, 10.1%) and affective disorders (n 5 204, 10.5%). The most common intervention categories were consumer education (n 5 644, 33.2%) and psychosocial techniques (n 5 571, 29.4%). Only 390 (20.1%) of the 1,940 systematic reviews specifically involved occupational therapy. Conclusion. Occupational therapists need to search broadly to locate relevant systematic reviews or, alternatively, to use databases such as OTseeker. Clarity about the involvement of occupational therapy in reports of future research will improve the ability to identify occupational therapy research for all stakeholders. Finally, occupational therapy practitioners need to read systematic reviews critically to determine whether review conclusions are justified.