A Randomised Controlled Trial of Occupational Therapy in Oncology: Challenges in Conducting a Pilot Study

In order to ascertain whether occupational therapy improved the mood, fatigue management and activities of daily living performance of oncology outpatients, a randomised controlled trial was used to compare an occupational therapy intervention at home with statutory service input. However, there were problems with recruitment and the collection of data, attributable in part to the nature of the disease, and therefore no conclusions regarding the role of occupational therapy could be drawn. Nevertheless, it is believed that this trial is important because it might assist clinicians planning future research in this area and because it counteracts publication bias (ISRCTN71264775).