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Assessment of localisation to auditory stimulation in post-comatose states: use the patient's own name
Lijuan Cheng1, Olivia Gosseries, Limei Ying
1International Vegetative State and Consciousness Science Institute, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.
Background:
At present, there is no consensus on how to clinically assess localisation to sound in patients recovering from coma. We here studied auditory localisation using the patient's own name as compared to a meaningless sound (i.e., ringing bell).
Methods:
Eighty-six post-comatose patients diagnosed with a vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome or a minimally conscious state were prospectively included. Localisation of auditory stimulation (i.e., head or eyes orientation toward the sound) was assessed using the patient's own name as compared to a ringing bell. Statistical analyses used binomial testing with bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons.
Results:
37 (43%) out of the 86 studied patients showed localisation to auditory stimulation. More patients (n=34, 40%) oriented the head or eyes to their own name as compared to sound (n=20, 23%; p<0.001).
Conclusions:
When assessing auditory function in disorders of consciousness, using the patient's own name is here shown to be more suitable to elicit a response as compared to neutral sound.
