DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PERSONS WITH RIGHT OR LEFT CEREBRAL VASCULAR ACCIDENT ON THE ASSESSMENT OF MOTOR AND PROCESS SKILLS

Objective: Persons with right and left cerebral vascular accident (RCV A and LCVA) differ in terms of discrete impairments, but there is limi ted information with regard to how such impairments translate into dif ferences in disability, The following hypotheses were tested: (1) pers ons with stroke have lower instrumental or domestic activities of dail y living (IADL) ability than do matched nondisabled controls, (2) pers ons with RCVA do not differ from persons with LCVA in LADL ability, an d (3) persons with RCVA and LCVA differ in specific motor and process skills that affect IADL performance. Design: Descriptive comparison. S etting: Subjects were tested in settings where rehabilitation services were received (home or clinic). Subjects: 71 persons with RCVA, 76 pe rsons with LCVA, and 83 community-living nondisabled individuals drawn from the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS) database, matc hed for age, gender, and number of tasks performed. Main Outcome Measu re: AMPS, designed to measure type and severity of impairments manifes ted in the context of IADL performance. The AMPS was administered to a ll subjects in accordance with standardized testing procedures. Result s: The two stroke groups did not differ significantly in IADL ability, but both stroke groups had significantly lower IADL performance than did the nondisabled subjects. On the AMPS motor scale, persons with RC VA demonstrated greater impairment in pacing, transporting, and coordi nating two body parts. Persons with LCVA demonstrated greater impairme nts in calibrating movements, No differences were found between the tw o groups in AMPS process skills. Conclusions: Persons with RCVA and LC VA have hemisphere-specific differences in motor impairments, but do n ot differ significantly in IADL ability. (C) 1995 by the American Cong ress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical M edicine and Rehabilitation