Perceived occupational gaps among the Ugandan general population - A pilot study

Purpose: This study aimed at culturally adapting the Occupational Gaps Questionnaire and to describe gaps which may exist during participation in everyday occupations i.e. the discrepancy between what a person wants to do and what he or she actually does in everyday life, in a reference sample from an English-speaking population in Uganda and furthermore to explore differences in occupational gaps between the Ugandan and Swedish reference samples.Method: A cross-sectional design was used and data were collected using the Occupational Gaps Questionnaire in four different districts in Uganda (n = 252). The Swedish representative sample included 771 people.Results: Occupational gaps were reported by 91% of the participants (mean=5.8; SD=3.9) in Uganda. The number of gaps perperson was higher than in the Swedish sample. The most common gaps in the Ugandan sample were reported as Working (42%),Studying (37%) and Hobbies (35%) in comparison to Cleaning (29%), Sports (23%) Hobbies as well as Travelling for pleasure(20%) in the Swedish sample. Younger participants perceived significantly more gaps than older participants in both samples.Conclusions: The majority of the participants perceived gaps, indicating that occupational gaps are perceived to a greater extent in Uganda. Key words: Activities in daily living, participation in everyday occupations, assessment, culture, reference sample, self-report