(Occupational Therapy Systematic Evaluation of Evidence) A Database with Pre-Appraised Research for Occupational Therapists Marianna McCormack, M.S. OTR Chatham University November, 2012

Learning Objectives 1.Demonstrate knowledge – Students will demonstrate the ability to navigate OTseeker and identify a systematic review (SR)or randomized controlled trial (RCT) relevant to their clinical question 2. Apply knowledge – Students will formulate conclusions about their SR or RCT based on critical appraisal information provided by OTseeker. 3. Evaluate a problem using that knowledge– Students will integrate this evidence into a clinical decision making process.

What is the historical perspective? Need for Evidence-Based Practice in OT profession is growing Barriers to EBP include ◦Lack of time ◦Access to literature ◦Difficulty interpreting research results

So to meet this need… OTs at U of Queensland and U of W. Sydney developed OTseeker OTseeker has been freely available at since March OTseeker contains ◦bibliographic details, abstracts, and quality ratings of RCTs ◦abstract of systematic reviews

Problem-Based Learning Theory

Importance of OTseeker to the OT Profession Reduces the time needed to locate research evidence Helps therapists interpret study results Encourages practitioners to use research evidence in their daily practice and clinical decisions.

OTseeker Tutorial

Now try it out for yourself! 1. First, formulate a clinical PICO question 2. Go to the SEARCH page 3. Generate a list of article titles 4. Click on one of these titles for a. abstract b. article details c. PEDro rating scale

But don’t forget…

The PEDro Scale PartitionedGuidelinesExplanations.pdf Rates the RCTs for methodological quality in two ways (partitioned) ◦Internal validity (maximum score of 8) ◦Statistical reporting (maximum score of 2) Total maximum score is 10

Limitations of OTseeker abstracts of some articles in OTseeker are not available. user must retrieve the full-text article either from the online or printed journal. only effectiveness of interventions is in the database….no qualitative studies

Research McCluskey, A., Lovarini, M., Bennett, S., McKenna, K., Tooth, L., & Hoffmann, T. (2006). How and why do occupational therapists use the OTseeker evidence database? Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 53,

Research Hoffmann, T., McKenna, K., Hadi, T., Bennett, S., McCluskey, A., & Tooth, L. (2007). Quality and quantity of paediatric research: An analysis of the OTseeker database. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 54,

Research McKenna, K., Bennett, S., Dierselhuis, Z., Hoffmann, T., Tooth, L. and McCluskey, A. (2005), Australian occupational therapists' use of an online evidence-based practice database (OTseeker). Health Information & Libraries Journal, 22, 205–214.

Additional Resources - this website answers questions and explains terminology used in OTseeker Bennett, S., Hoffmann, T., McCluskey, A., McKenna, K., Strong, J, Tooth, L. (2003). Introducing OTseeker: A new evidence database for occupational therapists. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 57(6), planations.pdf - this website explains the PEDro rating scale and teaches therapists how to use it planations.pdf Aust J Physiother. 2009;55(2): Aust J Physiother. The PEDro scale is a valid measure of the methodological quality of clinical trials: a demographic study.