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Background: Skin lesions are the most common early symptoms of leprosy, often ignored by patients at an early stage and misdiagnosed as other dermatological diseases by healthcare personnel, leading to delay in diagnosis and treatment of leprosy precipitating permanent neurological deficit, deformities and serious disabilities. Aims: The objective is to evaluate the duration of delay and factors responsible for the delay in reporting of patients, among the newly detected leprosy cases (Grade 1 and Grade 2 disability patients). Methods: A case-control study was conducted during 2014–2016 in three major states of India (Delhi, Gujarat and West Bengal) in 140 randomly recruited newly registered adult leprosy patients (aged 18 years and above) with Grade 2/1 disabilities (cases) and 140 Grade 0 disability patients (controls) in each of these Indian states. Results: It is established that the major contributors for the delay in the early diagnosis of leprosy have been patient-related factors. The median patient delay in the three states of Delhi, Gujarat and West Bengal were five months (0.7–1.8), 2.8 months (2–14) and 12 months (2–24), respectively. Limitations: The study design is case-control and has an inbuilt reporting bias due to the retrospective nature of data collection but the data collection was carried with caution to reduce the recall bias. As the study is carried out in three states, generalisation of interpretation was cautiously executed. The matching ratio of cases and controls was 1:1 in this study, but we could not increase the controls due to operational feasibility during the conduct of the study. Conclusion: Patient delay is a crucial factor responsible for the disability among new leprosy cases. A higher patient delay in these three states reflects that the community is not aware about the signs and symptoms of leprosy. Reducing patient delay is very important for reducing disabilities in the newly diagnosed cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Occupational therapy (OT) enhances functional independence in the daily activities of people with disabilities and subsequently their quality of life. Research in OT generates evidence to provide safe and effective services to the disabled. However, OT research in India has been shown to have various methodological limitations. These methodological limitations are expected to impact the quality of OT research as well as the evidence derived from this research to inform decision-making in rehabilitation. The majority of the OT research is disseminated and promoted through the All India Occupational Therapists' Association's (AIOTA) annual national conference (ANC). Analyzing the abstracts, selected for the presentation at the ANC could help understand and strategically improve the quality of OT research in India. Objectives: To explore and describe the quality of OT research in India. Study Design: Descriptive analysis. Methods: Descriptive, nonsystematic review and analysis of the key methodological aspects of the conference abstracts submitted for the AIOTA ANC published in the Indian Journal of OT (IJOT) from 2017 to 2021 was carried out. Information related to the methodological aspects of the research abstracts was extracted using a data extraction form and the data were synthesized and reported descriptively. Results: About 218 abstracts had been selected for either poster or oral presentations in the AIOTA ANC. All the abstracts were included for the review. A total of 8055 participants were recruited for the studies conducted from 2017 to 2021. About 5757 (72%) of the participants were recruited for cross-sectional studies. Nearly 72 (33%) of the abstracts presented were related to cross-sectional studies, 52 (24%) were case studies and 66 (30%) were experimental studies. However, research designs implying highest level of evidence such as systematic reviews were only 4 (2%) and randomized controlled trials were only 9 (4%) with 297 participants. Notably, 203 (98%) of the all the studies evaluating effectiveness of interventions or aiming to investigate associations reported positive results with statistically significant improvements and associations. Conclusion: The review provides invaluable information related to the quality of OT research in India. It implies the need to improve the scientific rigor of the evidence generated in relation to OT research in India. This review also implies the need for a radical change and strengthening of OT research within OT education and professional practice in India. National and global OT associations need to prioritize good quality OT research by enhancing the research skills and competencies of OTs in India. This could help promote evidence-based OT science and develop the OT profession in the world's second-most populous country. In addition, it is also expected to encourage those OT researchers who have been striving to build OT research standards in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Occupational therapy (OT) research in India has been shown to have various methodological limitations. This can subsequently impact the quality of research as well as on the evidence derived from this research to inform decision making in health care. The majority of the OT research is disseminated through the All-India Occupational Therapists Association's annual national conference (ANC). Analyzing the abstracts, selected for the presentation at the ANC could help understand the quality of OT research in India. Objectives: The objective of the study is to assess the quality of occupational therapy research in India. Study Design: A descriptive analysis Methods: Descriptive, non-systematic review and analysis of the key methodological aspects of the conference abstracts of the AIOTA ANC published in Indian Journal of OT (IJOT) between 2017 and 2021. Results: About 218 abstracts have been selected for either poster or oral presentations in the conference. In the total abstracts selected for the ANC, 8055 participants were recruited for the studies conducted between 2017 and 2021. 72 % (5807) of the participants were recruited for cross-sectional studies. 33% of the abstracts presented were related to cross-sectional studies, 24% were case studies and 30% were experimental studies. However, there were 4% of randomized controlled trials with 297 participants and 2% were systematic reviews that constitute the peak of the evidence pyramid. Positive results were reported with statistically significant improvements and associations in 98% of the studies evaluating the effectiveness of interventions or aiming to investigate associations. Conclusion: The review provides invaluable information related to the quality of occupational therapy research in India. The positive results reported in 98% of the intervention and correlational studies, imply potential reporting bias and methodological flaws in the conduct. Only four percent of the studies in this review had a design that could inform evidence, imply a radical change and strengthening of OT research as well as prioritization of research within OT education and professional practice in India. Funding: This work was supported by the DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance Fellowship [grant: IA/CPHE/16/1/502650], awarded to Dr. Sureshkumar Kamalakannan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The majority of the Occupational Therapy (OT) research in India is disseminated through the All India Occupational Therapists Association's Annual National Conference (ANC). Analyzing the abstracts, selected for the presentation at the ANC could help identify the research priorities for OT in India. Objectives: The objective of the study is to assess the trends in Occupational therapy research in India. Study Design: Descriptive analysis and non-systematic review. Methods: Descriptive, Non-systematic Review and analysis of the conference abstracts of the AIOTA ANC published in Indian Journal of OT (IJOT) between 2017 and 2021. Results: 218 abstracts were identified from the ANC abstract publications between 2017 and 2021. State level trends indicated that close to 85% of the research submission were from Maharashtra (49%), New Delhi (15%), Karnataka (10%), and Tamil Nadu (9%). We did not find any submission from the North-eastern states until 2020. About 40% of these research abstracts were related to Paediatrics, followed by neurology (17%), Musculoskeletal (15%), mental health (10%), ergonomics and assistive technology (8%). There was only 1-2% of research abstracts submission related to COVID-19 and Geriatrics. Close to 60% of the abstracts were clinical research with occupational therapy interventions. About 85% of the research abstracts were related to impairment (39%), activity limitation (26%), and participation (22%). Conclusion: This review highlights the need for diversifying the research in occupational therapy in India. This is particularly important in relation to expanding from selected states to a pan India research and development, especially including the north-eastern states. Also, the focus of OT research must move beyond impairments and approach disability from the social model perspective. It is also very important to diversify the research in occupational therapy to areas contributing substantial disability-adjusted life years such as COVID-19, geriatrics and non-communicable diseases. Priority setting for research in occupational therapy in India is an important implication of this review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]