Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The presence of unilateral visual neglect (UVN) may adversely affect functional recovery, and rehabilitation strategies that are practical for use in clinical settings are needed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of 2 approaches to reduce UVN in people who have had strokes. SUBJECTS: Seven elderly patients with stroke and severe left UVN, aged 60 to 85 years, were recruited from a stroke rehabilitation unit. METHODS: A nonconcurrent, multiple-baselines-across-subjects approach, with an A-B-A treatment-withdrawal single-subject experimental design, was used. Five subjects received a scanning and cueing approach, and 2 subjects received a contralesional limb activation approach, for 10 one-hour sessions. In the former approach, active scanning to the left was encouraged by the therapist, using visual and verbal cues and a mental imagery technique, during reading and copying tasks and simple board games. In the latter approach, functional and goal-oriented left upper-limb activities in neglected hemispace were encouraged. Unilateral visual neglect was examined by a masked (blinded) examiner throughout all phases using the Star Cancellation Test, the Line Bisection Test, and the Baking Tray Task. Data were analyzed using visual and inferential statistical techniques. RESULTS: Both subjects who received limb activation and 3 of the 5 subjects who received scanning and cueing showed a reduction in UVN in one or more tests. This improvement was maintained during the withdrawal phase. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Both approaches had a positive effect of reducing aspects of UVN in some subjects relative to no-treatment baselines. However, causality cannot be assured in the absence of controls. The approaches are practical for use in rehabilitation settings. These procedures warrant further replication across subjects, settings, and therapists.

Type

Journal article

Journal

Phys Ther

Publication Date

08/2002

Volume

82

Pages

782 - 797

Keywords

Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cues, Extremities, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Physical Therapy Modalities, Severity of Illness Index, Single-Blind Method, Statistics, Nonparametric, Stroke, Stroke Rehabilitation, Time Factors, Treatment Outcome, Vision Disorders, Visual Fields, Visual Perception