Highlights
- •A gold standard patient reported outcome measure (PROM) for pediatric hand therapy practice is lacking.
- •While barriers to PROM utilization exist, pediatric hand therapists attribute value to using PROMs.
- •Design characteristics for a PROM applicable to a pediatric hand therapy population are elucidated.
Abstract
Background
Demonstrating that pediatric hand therapy patients are achieving improved functional
and health status outcomes is critical as reimbursement for therapy services shifts
to value-based reimbursement. Yet, practice patterns of outcomes assessment in pediatric
hand therapy are unknown.
Purpose
Explore how pediatric hand therapists describe their experience measuring treatment
outcomes and using patient reported outcome measures (PROMs). Secondarily, to elucidate
what therapists perceive children and adolescents receiving hand therapy desire as
treatment outcomes.
Study Design
Interpretive descriptive qualitative study
Methods
Pediatric hand therapists were recruited through an email invitation sent to members
of the Pediatric Hand Study Group to participate in one-on-one interviews over a teleconference
link. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded to derive themes. Data collection
and analysis were iterative.
Results
Ten therapists with a median 13 years (range, 2-25 years) of experience practicing
in pediatric hand therapy completed interviews. Overall, participants reported using
52 unique outcomes measures, including 20 PROMs. The following themes were elucidated:
(1) Complexity and variability in pediatric hand therapy practice and outcomes assessment;
(2) Barriers to PROM use; (3) Value of PROM utilization; (4) Desired characteristics
of an optimal PROM for pediatric hand therapy.
Conclusion
Practice with outcomes assessment is variable. PROM utilization in pediatric hand
therapy practice may be improved with the development of a PROM that is aligned with
the pediatric population's outcomes priorities.
Keywords
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Who is a Certified Hand Therapist (CHT)? Accessed April 11, 2021. https://www.htcc.org/consumer-information/the-cht-credential/who-is-a-cht.
JHT Read for Credit
Quiz: # 854
Record your answers on the Return Answer Form found on the tear-out coupon at the back of this issue or to complete online and use a credit card, go to JHTReadforCredit.com. There is only one best answer for each question.
- # 1.The study design is
- a.prospective cohort
- b.RCTs
- c.qualitative
- d.case series
- a.
- # 2.Interviews were conducted with
- a.pediatric hand therapists
- b.pediatric patients
- c.the parents of pediatric patients
- d.social workers of pediatric patients
- a.
- # 3.Of the 10 interviewees
- a.2 were uncooperative during their interviews
- b.none of the 10 worked in clinics requiring the use of PROMs
- c.all 10 worked in clinics requiring the use of PROMs
- d.4 worked in clinics requiring the use of PROMs
- a.
- # 4.A commonly cited barrier to PROM utilization was
- a.institutional standards of care
- b.pressure from colleagues
- c.time constraints
- d.resistance by management
- a.
- # 5.A better more responsive PROM for the younger patient population is envisioned by the authors
- a.false
- b.true
- a.
When submitting to the HTCC for re-certification, please batch your JHT RFC certificates in groups of 3 or more to get full credit.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 10, 2022
Accepted:
January 24,
2022
Received in revised form:
November 9,
2021
Received:
May 4,
2021
Footnotes
Conflict of interest: All named authors hereby declare that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
