Correlations among impairment, daily activities and thinking operations after stroke.
OBJECTIVE
We investigated the hypothesis that ADL tests dependent on cortical functions could be used to assess outcome in stroke patients.


METHODS
27 right-handed stroke patients were evaluated on National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), Barthel Index (BI), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) Scale and thinking process items of Lowenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment (LOTCA).


RESULTS
Correlations between thinking process subtests of LOTCA and different items of NIHSS such as consciousness, arm movement, aphasia, ataxia and inattention was significant. Spearman correlation of thinking process and BI tasks showed no relationship, although Structured Riska of thinking process evaluation was correlated to both self-care and mobility areas of the BI. Thinking process was strongly related to IADL total score (p = 0.004). The total NIHSS correlated significantly with BI and IADL total scores.


CONCLUSIONS
Higher-order functions, such as categorization, sorting and reasoning, are related to IADL performance which depends on complicated cognitive abilities. In contrast, the BI depends heavily on motoric function, and does not correlate with higher-order functions. Further confirmation is needed, but our data suggest that commonly used IADL tests could serve to as valid, reliable tests of cognitive impairment and recovery in stroke victims.
Rehabilitation Department, Amal Rehabilitation Centre, Tehran, Iran.
Shadi
S
Akbari
Patrick D
PD
Lyden
Mohamad
M
Kamali
Malahat Akbar
MA
Fahimi
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D020521:Stroke / Q000175:diagnosis*; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation; D013850:Thinking