Impact of COVID-19 on Clinical Education for Occupational Therapy Students: A 3-Year Longitudinal Study on Fall Risk Prediction Ability

Abstract

This study aimed to examine if there were disadvantages to student learning and application when clinical education is canceled due to factors such as COVID-19 pandemic that occurred between 2020–2021. Forty occupational therapy students participated in the study, and they were classified into two groups: those with clinical education (clinical education group) and those without clinical education (inexperienced group). TP-KYT, which assesses a client’s ability to predict risk related to falls, was administered in the first and final year. The inexperienced group showed less ability to predict risk related to client falls than the clinical education group.

Keywords:

• Clinical education
• COVID-19
• occupational therapy
• risk prediction

Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Ayako Takamori, Clinical Research Center, Saga University Hospital, for statistical advice.

Declaration of interest

The authors declare no competing interests to declare.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Wataru Matsushita

Wataru Matsushita, Assistant Professor, the Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health Sciences at Fukuoka, International University of Health and Welfare, Fukuoka, Japan.

Katsuhiko Arihisa

Katsuhiko Arihisa, Associate Professor, the Division of Occupational Therapy, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Kansai University of Welfare Sciences, Osaka, Japan.

Hideki Miyaguchi

Hideki Miyaguchi, Professor, the Graduate School of Biomedical & Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.

Tomoko Ohura

Tomoko Ohura, Professor, the Division of Occupational Therapy, Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Sciences, Naragakuen University, Nara, Japan.

Ryohei Kishita

Ryohei Kishita, Lecturer, the Department of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Osaka University of Human Sciences, Osaka, Japan.

Chinami Ishizuki

Chinami Ishizuki, Lecturer, the Graduate School of Biomedical & Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.