[Effectiveness of an occupational therapy program for health promotion among healthy elderly. A randomized controlled trial].

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an occupational therapy program for health promotion among healthy elderly by a randomized controlled trial.
Methods: Participants were 220 community-dwelling healthy elderly, 65 years of age or older. They were assigned randomly to: an experimental group receiving a 15-session MOHO program consisting of lectures and seminars about personal causation, values, interests, roles, habits, motor skills, process skills, communication and interaction skills, and environment; a control group which received a 15-session crafts program or no treatment. Quality of life was compared between groups using the MOS 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), WHO/QOL-26 (QOL26) and Life Satisfaction Index Z. The Fisher's exact test and the t-test were used to assess differences between the two groups.
Results: The follow-up rates for the experimental and control groups were 71% and 72%. The experimental group comprised 80 people (mean age +/- SD, 71.1 +/- 4.68 years) and the control group 79 (71.4 +/- 4.66 years). Mean change of the following items for the experimental group was significantly greater from that of the control group: a BP of SF-36 (P = 0.05); and an environment score of QOL26 (P = 0.02).
Conclusion: The findings provide evidence that the MOHO program can meet coping and influence needs, thus improving QOL. We further conclude that the MOHO program is an effective interventional method for improvement of literacy about health and occupation.