Intervention and management of developmental coordination disorder: Are we providing evidence-based services?

Abstract

Background. Occupational therapists are well positioned to provide intervention to improve outcomes for children with developmental coordination disorder. However, little is known about what occupational therapy services are provided for these children. Purpose. As part of a larger study exploring service provision for children with developmental coordination disorder, the purpose of this study was to examine intervention and referral practices of occupational therapists in British Columbia, Canada. Method. An online survey was e-mailed to a convenience and snowball sample of paediatric occupational therapists, with 165 therapists responding. Descriptive statistics were used for the data analysis. Findings. Results show that the type and duration of intervention varied greatly throughout the province, as well as within health regions. Although 70% (87/124) of therapists reported being at least moderately familiar with current evidence, only 47% to 59% selected task-based methods as their primary intervention approach. Implications. Findings provide a baseline for current intervention and an opportunity for targeted knowledge translation initiatives.