Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of occupational therapy (OT) services on functional mobility status for patients with cancer in an acute care setting. DESIGN: Secondary data were used in a retrospective, observational study. SETTING: The setting was a National Cancer Institute (NCI) hospital in Richmond, Virginia. PARTICIPANTS: Patients aged 18-93 years of age (51.6% female and 48.4% identifying as male) with 6 cancer diagnoses (breast, blood/hematologic, colorectal/gastrointestinal, gynecologic, lung/respiratory, and prostate/genitourinary) admitted to an NCI over 5 years were included for analysis. There were 1949 patients included for analysis in a paired t test, and 448 patients analyzed in an adjusted linear regression based upon complete case analysis. INTERVENTION: The study analyzed the receipt and intensity of OT services. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Activity Measure for Post-Acute Care (AM-PAC) 6-Clicks Basic Mobility scores were analyzed at the time of admission to therapy services and prior to discharge. RESULTS: The patients' final recorded AM-PAC 6-Clicks Basic Mobility score was statistically significantly higher than the first session's AM-PAC 6-Clicks Basic Mobility score as determined by a paired t test analysis. In a multiple linear regression model adjusted for patient social and demographic factors, we found that for every additional OT service provided, there was an increase in the AM-PAC 6-Clicks Basic Mobility change score; the difference, however, was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: There was a statistically significant increase in functional mobility independence for patients with cancer who received OT services in an unadjusted analysis and a non-significant increase in an adjusted analysis of patients' functional mobility. Findings suggest OT services for patients with cancer may influence functional mobility independence.