title: Method for the systematic reviews on occupational therapy and neurodegenerative diseases.
abstract: Systematic reviews of the literature relevant to neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease (PD), multiple sclerosis (MS), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), are important to the practice of occupational therapy. We describe the four questions that served as the focus for systematic reviews of the effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions for PD, MS, and ALS. We include the background for the reviews; the process followed for addressing each question, including search terms and search strategy; the databases searched; and the methods used to summarize and critically appraise the literature. The final number of articles included in each systematic review; a summary of the themes of the results; the strengths and limitations of the findings; and implications for practice, education, and research are presented.
authors.affiliation: Marian Arbesman, PhD, OTR/L, is Consultant, Evidence-Based Practice Project, American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), Bethesda, MD; President, ArbesIdeas, Inc., 19 Hopkins Road, Williamsville, NY 14221; and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Rehabilitation Science, University at Buffalo, State University of New York; ma@ArbesIdeas.com.
authors.forename: Marian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arbesman
authors.affiliation: Deborah Lieberman, MSHA, OTR/L, FAOTA, is Program Director, Evidence-Based Practice Project, and Staff Liaison to the Commission on Practice, AOTA, Bethesda, MD.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lieberman
authors.affiliation: Debra R. Berlanstein, MLS, AHIP, is Associate Director, Hirsh Health Sciences Library, Tufts University, Medford, MA.
authors.forename: Debra R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Berlanstein
mesh_terms: D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000534:rehabilitation; D016206:Databases, Bibliographic; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000534:rehabilitation; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D009788:Occupational Therapy; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000534:rehabilitation; D012107:Research Design; D012196:Review Literature as Topic