Cerebral vascular accident: Some characteristics of occupational therapy evaluation forms

To determine areas most commonly evaluated by occupational therapists and to ascertain methods in which evaluative information is gathered, 35 evaluation forms currently employed by occupational therapists to assess dysfunction in patients with cerebral vascular accident were collected. Five general areas including motor function, sensory deficit, hand function, activities of daily living, and visual perception were found to be most frequently listed on the forms. These areas were divided into sub areas to operationally define the information collected. Analysis revealed that the level of measurement most frequently employed by therapists to record evaluative findings was the descriptive level. There was a tendency to collect data at 'higher' or more sophisticated levels of measurement in those areas evaluated most frequently. The findings are discussed in relation to professional competency concerns and the need to develop unique occupational therapy evaluative instruments for areas of practice such as cerebral vascular accident.