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Short apraxia screening test.
Ramon Leiguarda1, Florencia Clarens, Alejandra Amengual
1a Department of Cognitive Neurology and Neuropsychiatry , Institute of Neurological Research, Fundacion de Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia (FLENI) , Buenos Aires , Argentina.
Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology
|November 1, 2014
Summary
A new screening test effectively identifies limb apraxia, a common but often unrecognized disorder. This tool enhances diagnosis of upper limb praxis deficits, improving patient recognition and care.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Clinical Neurology
Background:
- Limb apraxia encompasses diverse, prevalent disorders often overlooked due to a lack of sensitive screening tools.
- Current diagnostic methods struggle to identify the full spectrum of limb praxis deficits.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate a novel screening test designed for the sensitive and comprehensive detection of limb apraxia.
- To establish the reliability and diagnostic accuracy of the new apraxia screening test.
Main Methods:
- Seventy patients with left-hemisphere lesions causing limb apraxia and 40 healthy controls were assessed.
- A 12-item screening test evaluated intransitive/transitive gestures, imitation, and object manipulation across sensory modalities.
Main Results:
- High interrater reliability was achieved with a cutoff of >2 positive items (Cohen's kappa .918).
- A cutoff of >3 items also showed significant reliability (Cohen's kappa .768), but >2 indicated better diagnostic agreement.
Conclusions:
- The developed screening test demonstrates high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing all types of upper limb praxis deficits.
- This new tool offers significant advantages over existing limb apraxia screening methods.
