Characteristics of research with older people (over 65 years) in occupational therapy journals, 2013–2017

Figures & data

Table 1. Presentation of selected journals for this review and journal abbreviations.

Selected journals*	Journal abbreviations
American Journal of Occupational Therapy	AJOT
Asian Journal of Occupational Therapy	AsJOT
Australian Occupational Therapy Journal	AOTJ
British Journal of Occupational Therapy	BJOT
Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy	CJOT
Hong Kong Journal of Occupational Therapy	HKOT
Indian Journal of Occupational Therapy	IJOT
New Zealand Journal of Occupational Therapy	NZOT
Occupational Therapy in Health Care	OTHC
Occupational Therapy in Mental Health	OTMH
Occupational Therapy International	OTI
OTJR; Occupation, Participation and Health	OTJR
Open Journal of Occupational Therapy	OJOT
Physical and Occupational Therapy in Geriatrics	POTG
Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy	SJOT

*The South African Journal of Occupational Therapy, Japanese Journal of Occupational therapy Research, Israel Journal of Occupational therapy, Korean Journal of Occupational Therapy and World Federation of Occupational Therapist Bulletin was searched although no articles met the inclusion criteria.

Table 2. Number and frequency of included articles according to inclusion criteria and articles published in each journal per year according to scopus or the journals homepage (*).

	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	Total
AJOT	7/102 = 6.9%	10/131 = 7.6%	9/154 = 5.8%	9/125 = 7.2%	7/103 = 6.8%	42/615 = 6.8%
AOTJ	9/73 = 12.3%	3/76 = 3.9%	5/81 = 6.2%	3/64 = 4.7%	5/87 = 5.7%	25/381 = 6.6%
AsJOT*	0	1/3 = 33.3%	0	1/19 = 5.2%	5/12 = 41.6%	7/34 = 20.5%
BJOT	25/381 = 6.6%	8/101 = 7.9%	12/99 = 12.1%	9/108 = 8.3%	12/86 = 14%	45/483 = 9.3%
CJOT	2/42 = 4.8%	2/38 = 5.3%	2/38 = 5.3%	1/38 = 2.6%	1 /21 = 4.8%	8/177 = 4.5%
HKOT	2/13 = 15.4%	1/13 = 7.7%	2/15 = 13.3%	1/12 = 8.3%	1/14 = 7.1%	7/67 = 10.4%
IJOT*	0/12 = 0%	0/12 = 0%	1/13 = 7.7%	0	0	1/37 = 2.7%
NZJOT*	0/9 = 0%	0/8 = 0%	0/8 = 0%	1/10 = 10%	0/8 = 0%	1/43 = 2.3%
OJOT*	1/16 = 6.2%	3/23 = 13.0%	0/30 = 0%	0/43 = 0%	0/49 = 0%	4/161 = 2.5%
OTMH*	1/24 = 4.2%	0/17 = 0%	0/23 = 0%	1/24 = 4.2%	0/24 = 0%	2/112 = 1.8%
OTHC	1/48 = 2%	2/44 = 4.5%	0/34 = 0%	2/32 = 6.2%	4/33 = 12.1%	9/191 = 4.7%
OTI	4/26 = 15.4%	4/21 = 19%	2/22 = 9.1%	2/40 = 5%	1/24 = 4.2%	13/133 = 9.8%
OTJR*	3/22 = 13.6%	1/20 = 5%	4/24 = 16.7%	2/24 = 8.3%	0/23 = 0%	10/113 = 8.8%
POTG	14/27 = 51.8%	16/31 = 51.6%	8/27 = 29.6%	3/14 = 21.4%	5 /14 = 35.7%	46/113 = 40.7%
SJOT	4/63 = 6.3%	12/71 = 16.9%	7/65 = 10.5%	5/49 = 10.2%	9/ 52 = 17.3%	37/300 = 12.3%

Table 3. Number of participants in relation to research design.

	No art	Range	Q1	Median	Q3
Basic research	130	1–27,131	10	30	78
Qualitative	47	3–60	6	10	17
Quantitative	66	1–27131	33	63	176
Mixed method	19	1–506	3	10	40
Correlational and descriptive	39	5–506	39	80	131
Qualitative	9	5–149	8	13	73
Quantitative	26	14–506	61	98	143
Mixed methods	4	39–456
Effectiveness	47	1–12,094	11	20	55
Qualitative	2	2–5
Quantitative	38	1–12,094	11	21	118
Mixed Method	7	14–52
Instrument testing	40	5–1184	27	96	207
Qualitative	1	5
Quantitative	37	5–1184	29	96	207
Mixed methods	1	27
Professional topic	1	35
Qualitative	1	35
Total	n = 257	1–27,131	12	37	118

Table 4. Cross table of study design and category of research [23].

	Basic research	Correlational and descriptive	Effectiveness	Instrument testing	Professional topic	Total (n = 257 articles)
Qualitative	47	9	2	1	1	60
Quantitative	66	26	38	37		167
Mixed methods	17	4	7	2		30
Total	130	39	47	40	1	257

Table 5. Classification of subject fields linked to ICF’s components [21].

	B	D	E	S	B;D	B;E	B;PF	B;S	D;E	D;PF	E;PF	B;D;E	NC	Total
Intervention	2	10	7		4	6			8	2		1	2	41
Activity		17			7		1		7	3		1		34
Instrument testing	9	9	2		3	2			3				7	32
Driving		12			3				4					17
Falls	2	6	2		2				3			1	1	15
Function	5			1	5	1	1	1	1					15
Technology use			3						8			2		13
Participation	1	5			1				1	3				10
Occupational performance		3			3				2					8
Technical aids			4									1		5
Remaining articles	6	13	14		3	2			9	1	2		6	54
Total	25	75	32	1	31	11	2	1	46	9	2	6	16	257

B: body function; D: activity and participation; E: environment; S: body structure; PF: personal factors; NC: not covered.

Table 6. Cross table of subject fields and categories of research [23] covered by the articles.

	Basic research	Correlational and descriptive	Effectiveness	Instrument testing	Professional topic	Total (n = 257 articles)
Interventions	19	3	16	4		42
Activity	21	5	7	3		36
Instruments	5	1	1	28		35
Driving	12	1	3	3		19
Falls	10	4	3			17
Function	10	2	3			15
Technology use	8	4	1			13
Participation	4	4	3			11
Occupational performance	7	1				8
Technical aids	2	1	2			5
Remaining articles	32	13	8	2	1	56
Total	130	39	47	40	1	257

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