The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) as Routine Practice in Community-Based Rehabilitation: A Retrospective Chart Review

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether patients experienced improved functional outcomes as a result of their admission to rehabilitation and to identify whether the service provided effective, patient-centered and goal-directed rehabilitation. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review of admission and discharge data from patients accessing the service between 2011 and 2019. SETTING: Community-based interdisciplinary rehabilitation service. PARTICIPANTS: Consecutive patients (N=612) admitted to the service. INTERVENTIONS: Routine care delivered with a median duration of 181 days and an interquartile range of 120-261 days. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) administered on admission and discharge and an improvement ≥2 in the COPM subscales of performance and satisfaction. RESULTS: Of 612 participants, 96% had the COPM administered at admission (baseline) and 68% again at discharge. Performance and satisfaction were measured in 584 patients at admission, 406 at discharge, and 404 at both time points. For performance, 243 patients (60%) experienced an improvement (≥2), with an average of 2.2 points. For satisfaction, 268 patients (66%) experienced an improvement (≥2), with an average of 2.8 points. Factors influencing outcomes, differed. For each 10 year increase in patient age, the average improvement in satisfaction was 0.26 points lower (95% confidence interval, 0.07-0.45) after adjusting for sex, duration, completion, and health condition. CONCLUSIONS: Irrespective of patient-related factors and regardless of age, sex, health condition, or discharge plan, the majority of patients reported a positive functional outcome in COPM Performance and satisfaction as a result of time spent in the community-based rehabilitation service. This service provided equitable care and patient-centered, goal-focused, and outcome-based therapy that enabled patients to improve their functional capacity.