Occupational therapy interventions to address hospital associated deconditioning among older people: A scoping review protocol

Background Hospital-acquired deconditioning (HAD) is recognised as a state of reduced physiological, psychological, and functional after an acute hospitalization. Older people, particularly those with physical and social complexities are at risk of hospital-associated deconditioning, which is associated with increased length of stay in hospital, institutionalization, mortality, and increased healthcare costs. Thus, identification of effective approaches for the assessment, management, and prevention of HAD are pertinent. Occupational therapy has a potential role to play in prevention and treatment of HAD among older people. This scoping review will identify and map existing occupational therapy interventions which address deconditioning among older people. Methods This scoping review will be conducted using the framework proposed by the Joanna Briggs Institute and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR), will be used to guide the reporting. A comprehensive search strategy using relevant key words and index terms will be developed and applied across Embase (OVID), Medline (OVID), CINHAL (EBSCO), PsychInfo (ProQuest), SCOPUS databases. This will be followed by search of the reference lists of selected sources and hand-search relevant data-hubs. The search will cover studies published in English from January 2014 to the present date. Titles and abstracts will be screened against inclusion criteria. Data will be extracted using a form developed for this review. The Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) checklist (Hoffmann et al., 2014) will be applied to papers where specific interventions are reported. Key information on assessment and intervention practices will be categorised and classified in a narrative summary. Conclusion This scoping review will examine current practice internationally regarding the role of occupational therapy in prevention and treatment of HAD among older people.