Occupational therapy-led interventions for people with anxiety disorders - impact on functioning and mental health symptoms
Date
2018-06-11Author
Fox, Jackie
Erlandsson, Lena-Karin
Shiel, Agnes
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Fox, Jackie, Erlandsson, Lena-Karin , & Shiel, Agnes. (2018). Occupational therapy-led interventions for people with anxiety disorders - impact on functioning and mental health symptoms Paper presented at the RCOT2018 Annual Conference and Exhibition, Belfast, 11-13 June.
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Abstract
Anxiety is prevalent and is associated with loss of functioning
in occupations like work and household management (Kessler
et al, 2009). But the effectiveness of occupational therapy
interventions to improve functioning for this population was
under-researched. This systematic review aimed to determine
the effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions to
improve functioning and mental health outcomes for individuals
with anxiety disorders. The systematic review included studies
involving (a) individuals with anxiety and stress-related disorders
over 18 years, (b) outcomes relating to functioning and/or
mental health, and (c) interventions designed/led/facilitated
by an occupational therapist. Eleven databases were searched
for literature published from 1994 to 2016. Data extraction
was performed by the first author and independently reviewed
by the other authors. The studies were critically appraised for
methodological quality (Law and MacDermid, 2014). The review
found 24 papers describing 18 individual studies. Because
the nature of the interventions varied, narrative analysis was
used rather than meta-analysis. Two RCT studies showed that
occupational therapy-led interventions have the potential to
improve anxiety symptoms (Garvey et al, 2015, Lambert et al,
2007). Smaller studies without control groups also showed
positive results on mental health assessments. Functioning
was measured in 11 studies out of the 18 reviewed. Studies
particularly targeting life skills such as driving and home
management showed emerging potential. Occupational therapy
interventions have the potential to improve functioning and
mental health outcomes for people with anxiety, but require
replication in larger studies to inform practice (Ashby et al,
2015).