Severity of spatial neglect during acute inpatient rehabilitation predicts community mobility after stroke

Abstract

Objective: To examine whether stroke survivors with more severe spatial neglect during their acute inpatient rehabilitation had poorer mobility after returning to their communities.

Design: A prospective observational study.

Setting: Acute inpatient rehabilitation and follow-up in the community.

Participants: Thirty-one consecutive stroke survivors with right-brain damage (women, n = 15 [48.4%]), with the mean (standard deviation) age of 60 ± 11.5 years, were included in the study if they demonstrated spatial neglect within 2 months after stroke.

Methods: Spatial neglect was assessed with the Behavioral Inattention Test (BIT) (range, 0-146 [a lower score indicates more severity]) and the Catherine Bergego Scale (range, 0-30 [a higher score indicates more severity]). A score of the Behavioral Inattention Test <129 or of the Catherine Bergego Scale >0 defined the presence of spatial neglect.

Main outcome measurements: The outcome measure is community mobility, defined by the extent and frequency of traveling within the home and in the community, and is assessed with the University of Alabama at Birmingham Study of Aging Life-Space Assessment (range, 0-120 [a lower score indicates less mobile]). This measure was assessed after participants returned home ≥6 months after stroke. The covariates were age, gender, functional independence at baseline; follow-up interval; and depressed mood, which may affect the relationship between spatial neglect and community mobility.

Results: A lower Behavioral Inattention Test score was a significant predictor of a lower Life-Space Assessment score after controlling for all the covariates (β = 0.009 [95% confidence interval, 0.008-0.017]); P = .020). The proportion of participants unable to travel independently beyond their homes was 0%, 27.3%, and 72.7% for those with mild, moderate, and severe acute neglect, respectively (Catherine Bergego Scale range, 1-10, 11-20, and 21-30, respectively).

Conclusions: Our result indicates that acute spatial neglect has a negative impact on regaining of functional mobility in the community. Specific screening and treatment of spatial neglect during acute stroke care may be necessary to improve long-term mobility recovery.