Affiliations: [a] Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA | [b] Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Birmingham, AL, USA | [c] Department of Psychology, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA | [d] Department of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, AR, USA | [e] Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA | [x] Department of Psychology, School of Social & Behavioral Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL, USA | [y] Department of Physical Therapy, School of Health Related Professions, University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL, USA
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Victor W. Mark, MD, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 619 19th Street South, SRC 190, Birmingham, AL 35249-7330, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Objective:To evaluate in a preliminary fashion whether several standard cognitive assessments predict treatment outcomes on real-world functional activities following Constraint-Induced Movement therapy (CI therapy) for either the upper extremity (UE) or the lower extremity (LE) for chronic stroke hemiparesis in the outpatient therapy clinic. Methods:15 UE and 14 LE patients in the clinic underwent a short battery of cognitive assessments that evaluated sustained attention, episodic memory, executive control abilities, and general cognitive function. Spearman correlation analysis was used to evaluate whether each cognitive test predicted treatment outcome on the limb-specific Motor Activity Log (MAL). Results:Two assessments (delayed verbal memory and Trail Making Test form B) significantly correlated with LE MAL change that followed therapy. Conclusions:We tentatively conclude from this exploratory and preliminary study that cognitive performance may predict treatment changes in response to CI therapy for the LE. Moderate to large correlations that we observed between other cognitive assessments and CI therapy outcomes recommend replicating this study with a larger and more cognitively diverse sample of stroke patients to learn if these findings are generalizable.
