Eye patching in unilateral spatial neglect: Efficacy of two methods

Objectives: To determine whether patches obscuring half the visual field af fect eye movement in subjects with unilateral spatial neglect and whether t here is consequent improvement in the subject's everyday life, and to inter pret the potential changes observed with the aid of a theoretical model. Design: Prospective and randomized study. Setting: Rehabilitation medicine department in sin urban general hospital. Patients: Twenty-two subjects with left unilateral neglect. Intervention: Two eye-patching procedures-right half-field patches (n = 7) and right mononuclar patch (n = 7)-and control group (n = 8). Main Outcome Measures: Functional tests (FIM) and analytical tests (measure ment of right eye movements by photo-oculography) at admission and after 3 months. Results: Results of the paired comparison tests showed (1) significant diff erences between the control group and the group with the half-eye patches f or total FIM score (p = .01) and the displacements of the right eye in the left field (p = .02), and (2) no significant differences between the contro l group and the group with the right monocular patch. Conclusion: Patching the right half-field helped subjects initially regain voluntary control over the deficit. The actual interpretation is based on p hysiologic and psychophysiologic models. (C) 1999 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine an d Rehabilitation.