The inclusion of activities of daily living in flexor tendon rehabilitation: A survey

Studies have shown that patients restricted to one-handed use due to trauma or surgery often have difficulty with activities of daily living (ADLs). In order to assess hand therapists' perspectives and practices regarding ADL assessment and intervention, a 21-item survey was e-mailed to members of the American Society of Hand Therapists (ASHT). Results of the survey indicate that the majority of hand therapists surveyed (97.5%) feel that ADL performance is an important part of hand therapy practice and that teaching adaptive strategies is a high priority in the early weeks of flexor tendon rehabilitation, but less than half (45.5%) actually provide a formal assessment of ADL performance in order to discover patients' ADL needs. Reasons for this discrepancy between beliefs and practices are explored through participants' comments in the survey. Level of evidence: 3b.