Relationship of constructional apraxia and body scheme disorders in dressing performance in adult CVA

The relationship between constructional apraxia and body scheme disorders and failure of post-cerebral vascular accident (CVA) patients to achieve independence in upper extremity dressing was investigatged in this study. One hundred and one subjects with right- and left-CVA were given tests that measured body scheme dysfunction and constructional apraxia on admission to an inpatient rehabilitation unit, and then rated on upper extremity dressing performance at discharge. Scores on the apraxia and body scheme tests were statistically correlated with dressing performance. The results indicated that both constructional apraxia and body scheme dysfunction contribute to failure in achieving upper exremity dressing, but that body scheme performance is a better predictor of dressing ability. In addition, the presence of visual field deficits, medical complications, and aphasia were found to exert significant influence on subject performance.