Portrait of occupational difficulties of French children in elementary schools followed in occupational therapy: an exploratory study

Abstract

Introduction: Participation of children in their occupations is essential to their development. Occupations are spread throughout the day in personal care, productivity (school activities) and leisure. The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) is used in occupational therapy during the initial interview to identify the child's occupational difficulties, whether or not they are related to a pictorial aid such as the OT'HOPE. The aim of this study is to establish a portrait of the occupational difficulties of French children, followed in occupational therapy and aged between 6 and 12 years.

Methodology: A retrospective and exploratory descriptive analysis was performed on the data collected by the COPM in 2019. By convenience sampling, trained occupational therapists were invited to submit their data. Descriptive and mean-comparison statistical analyses, as well as a thematic analysis of the occupations raised, were performed.

Results: 720 activities with 104 children were identified as limiting their participation in their occupations. The profile of occupational difficulties was rather homogeneous between girls and boys except for hygiene (p=0.0002) and organization of school work (p=0.0004). Writing was the most cited activity, while leisure activities were the least mentioned by the children (6.81%).

Implication for practice: The under-representation of occupational difficulties in the leisure domain should encourage occupational therapists to pay particular attention to questioning this domain during the semi-directive interviews with the child at the beginning of the support.