Lesion location may attenuate response to strategy training in acute stroke

Strategy training, a rehabilitation intervention, reduces disability and improves functional skills associated with goal-directed behavior. Stroke lesions impacting selected ventromedial regions of interest associated with initiation of goal-directed behavior may attenuate intervention response. If so, strategy training may not be optimal for people with stroke lesions in these regions.

To examine whether ventromedial regions of interest attenuate changes in disability status attributed to strategy training.

Secondary analysis of data from two randomized controlled clinical trials.

Inpatient stroke rehabilitation.

People with acute stroke diagnosis and available diagnostic studies enrolled in inpatient rehabilitation randomized controlled studies between 2009 and 2017.

Participants were randomized to strategy training or a control condition in addition to the usual care during inpatient rehabilitation.

Diagnostic magnetic resonance imaging studies were retrieved from electronic medical records, and stroke lesion location was characterized by a neuroradiologist. Intervention response was defined by Functional Independence Measure change scores of 22 points or greater.

Only 186 of 275 participants had diagnostic studies available; 13 patients showed no apparent lesion on their diagnostic study. Among 173 cases, 156 had complete data at discharge (strategy training n = 71, control n = 85). Twenty-five cases had a lesion within a region of interest (strategy training n = 14, control n = 11). Intervention response was attenuated in the strategy training group for those with lesions in regions of interest [χ² (1, n = 71) = 4.60, P = .03], but not for those in the control group [Fisher exact test, n = 85, P = .19).

Lesions in the ventromedial regions of interest may attenuate response to strategy training.