Introduction: Osteoarthritis is one of the most common rheumatic diseases and one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Osteoarthritis of the hand is characterised by joint pain, swelling, morning stiffness, deformity, limited mobility and decrease of grip and/or pinch strenght, which leads to difficulties when performing task of every day life, loss of productive work time and decreased ability to perform manual activites Purpose: The aim of this diploma work is to collect recommendations and evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to support occupations in occupational therapy treatment of people with hand osteoarthritis. Methods: A literature review on the management of people with hand osteoarthritis in occupational therapy was conducted, focusing on interventions to support occupations. The search was conducted between November 2021 and May 2022 on the electronic databases PubMed, OTseeker, the BMJ, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Library and SAGE journals with the keywords 'hand osteoarthritis', 'exercise', 'activity' and 'occupational therapy'. Results: Seven articles were included in the literature review. Four focused on the effectiveness of interventions to support occupations, and three focused on the design of the programme or recommendations. Discussion and conclusion: Occupational therapy treatment for people with hand osteoarthritis, which includes interventions to support occupations, should take place during a period when inflammation and pain are not present, and should not cause pain that is persist for more than 2 hours after the end of therapy. A warm-up period of warm compresses, paraffin baths, low-intensity exercises or low-intensity aerobic exercise should be carried out before treatment. There are no general recommendations on time, intensity, number of repetitions and number of treatments per day/week. Interventions to support occupations have a positive impact on reducing pain and stiffness, but results are mixed when it comes to improving grip strength. Interventions to support occupations are a cost-effective strategy that should be considered as standard in occupational therapy management of people with hand osteoarthritis.
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