Mj. Bailey et al., Evaluation of a test battery for hemineglect in elderly stroke patients for use by therapists in clinical practice, NEUROREHAB, 14(3), 2000, pp. 139-150
Hemineglect is not a single entity, and the syndrome has a number of sensor
y and motor manifestations. The purpose of this study was a) to measure per
formance of healthy elderly subjects on a battery of validated tests for he
mineglect in order to establish appropriate cut-off scores and b) to assess
performance of a large sample of elderly stroke patients in a rehabilitati
on unit, using the same battery. Tests were selected to identify rate of oc
currence of hemineglect in visuospatial, representational, pre-motor and pe
rsonal modalities. The battery was administered to 107 patients with right
or left sided brain damage and 43 age-matched controls. Results showed that
39.2% of the patient sample (78.6% of which had right-sided brain damage),
were 'neglecters', scoring below cut-off in one or more tests. Star Cancel
lation and Line Bisection showed the highest relative sensitivity for visuo
spatial neglect (76.4%). The 'Baking Tray Task', the 'Exploratory Motor Tas
k', and utilisation of common objects test for personal neglect are additio
nally suggested for use in the clinical situation. 'Copying a Daisy' and cl
ock-drawing are not recommended due to low sensitivity and subjectivity in
scoring respectively.