Content analysis of five occupational therapy journals, 2006-2010: further review of characteristics of the quantitative literature

OBJECTIVE. To analyze the content of publications in 5 occupational therapy journals to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the literature base from 2006 to 2010. METHOD. A content analysis for 2006 through 2010 of the American Journal of Occupational Therapy (AJOT), Australian Occupational Therapy Journal (AOTJ), British Journal of Occupational Therapy (BJOT), Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy (CJOT), and Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy (SJOT) was completed. RESULTS. AJOT and SJOT had the highest percentage of articles focusing on physical disabilities, whereas a majority of articles in AOTJ, BJOT, and CJOT focused on education. SJOT published articles with the highest median number of participants in all research designs excluding descriptive studies. The majority of the research articles were descriptive for all journals. CONCLUSION. From 2006 to 2010, AJOT provided stronger evidence conducted at higher levels than the other journals by publishing more articles investigating interventions used to support clinical practice.