Profile of Assessments in Pediatric Occupational Therapy Practice

Abstract

Abstract Importance: Occupational therapy practice is intended to reflect the core construct of occupation throughout all aspects of service delivery. In pediatric occupational therapy, the evidence examining regularly selected assessment tools and the occupational constructs of those assessment tools is insufficient. Objective: To examine the assessment tools regularly selected by practicing pediatric occupational therapists and the therapists’ classification of assessment tools as occupation-based. Design: A cross-sectional quantitative design through the dissemination of an anonymous, close-ended assessment tool inventory with completion of descriptive statistics. Setting: Pediatric occupational therapist practice specific to the assessments used. Participants: There were 337 pediatric occupational therapists recruited through targeted sampling via social media. The participants were included if they had provided direct client care to individuals ages of 0 to 21 yr during their career. Results: The assessment tools most commonly used by pediatric occupational therapists are the Sensory Profile (86.4%) and the Beery–Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual–Motor Integration (85.2%). The primary assessment tools selected by pediatric occupational therapists were skill-based regardless of years of practice or practice setting. Therapists were unable to correctly classify assessment tools as occupation-based. Conclusions and Relevance: The limited use of occupation-based assessments in conjunction with decreased recognition of the occupational nature of assessment tools hinders the integration of occupation-based assessment tools across pediatric clinical practice. Pediatric occupational therapists’ integration of occupation-based assessment tools is needed to promote the occupational constructs of the profession. What This Article Adds: This article identifies the common assessment tools utilized by pediatric occupational therapists. Additionally, this article brings awareness to the inconsistent identification and integration of occupation-based assessment tools within pediatric clinical practice.