Occupation Based Telerehabilitation Intervention for Adolescents with Myelomeningocele: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Aims

This pilot study examined the impact of an occupation based intervention using a telerehabilitation format with adolescents with myelomeningocele (MMC).

Methods

We conducted a nonrandomized pilot study including four adolescents ages 14–18 with MMC. The intervention program included 10–12 sessions of the Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance remotely delivered via videoconferencing. Outcome measures included the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM), Wee-Functional Independence Measure;(Wee-FIM), and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL). Assessments were administered at baseline, post intervention and at three-month follow-up.

Results

Following intervention, participants rated their performance as having improved 2 points on the COPM for 8 out of 12 trained goals and on 2 out of 8 untrained goals. At 3-month follow-up improvement was reported on 9 out of 12 trained goals and 3 out of 8 untrained goals All participants made clinically significant improvements on the Wee-FIM total score following intervention and improvements were maintained at 3-month follow-up. The intervention effect on the PedsQL was inconclusive. Feedback interviews suggested that participants experience high satisfaction from the results and implementation of the intervention.

Conclusions

Our results demonstrate potential efficacy of occupation based teleintervention for adolescents with MMC.

Keywords:

• adolescent health services
• cognitive orientation to daily occupational performance
• occupational therapy
• patient participation
• quality of life
• telerehabilitation

Acknowledgment

The authors extend their special appreciation to the families who participated in the study.

Disclosure statement

Contributors and their funding sources have been properly acknowledged. All individuals listed as authors meet the appropriate authorship criteria; nobody who qualifies for authorship has been omitted from the list. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Presentation of the Research

The work submitted is our own and copyright has not been breached in seeking its publication. The submitted work and its essential substance have not previously been published and are not being considered for publication elsewhere.

Additional information

Funding

Financial support for this research study was provided by Alyn Pediatric and Adolescent Rehabilitation Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel.

Notes on contributors

Shoshana Steinhart

Shoshana Steinhart, MS is an Occupational Therapist in the Rehabilitation Department and Research and Student Fieldwork Coordinator at Alyn Hospital Pediatric and Adolescent Rehabilitation Center.

Shani Raz-Silbiger

Shani Raz-Silbiger, MSc OT, is an Occupational Therapist in the Rehabilitation-Educational-Medical Day Care Center and in the Warm Home Department at Alyn Hospital, Pediatric & Adolescent Rehabilitation Center, Jerusalem, Israel, and is also a Clinical Supervisor and a Teaching Fellow at The School of Occupational Therapy, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.

Maurit Beeri

Maurit Beeri, MD, MPA is a Board Certified Pediatrician with 25 years' experience in Pediatric Rehabilitation and is the CEO of ALYN Hospital Pediatric and Adolescent Rehabilitation Center which is affiliated with the Hebrew University Faculty of Medicine.

Yafit Gilboa

Yafit Gilboa, OT, Ph.D. is an Occupational Therapist and a Researcher at the School of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.