Patient-perspective evidence on the acceptability, usability, and everyday impact of relative motion orthoses in adult hand rehabilitation: A scoping review protocol

Relative motion orthoses (RM orthoses) are finger-based orthoses used in adult hand rehabilitation to protect healing structures or optimist movement patterns while permitting active hand use. Existing reviews have mapped RM-orthosis indications, configuration, and clinical outcomes, and the most recent has begun to incorporate patient-experience findings; however, patient-perspective evidence has not yet been mapped as the primary object of a synthesis, organised against defined dimensions of acceptability, usability, and everyday impact. The objective of this scoping review is to map the extent, range, and nature of patient-perspective evidence on the acceptability, usability, and everyday impact of RM orthoses in adult hand rehabilitation. The review will follow Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews and be reported using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews. Sources will include adults aged 18 years or older who have used an RM orthosis for hand rehabilitation. Any adult hand rehabilitation context will be considered. Qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, case-based, survey, and grey literature sources will be included when patient-perspective data can be extracted. Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL Complete, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science Core Collection will be searched, together with Google Scholar, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global, and Overton. Two reviewers will independently screen and extract data, with a third reviewer available for adjudication. Critical appraisal will not be undertaken. The protocol has been prospectively registered on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/dcyf8/overview). Findings will be presented in tabular, diagrammatic, and narrative form, including a summary-of-characteristics table and a concept-mapping matrix. This review will provide an evidence map to guide patient-centred orthotic practice and identify research priorities.