Tactile extinction and functional status after stroke. A preliminary investigation

Research has identified a number of factors associated with poststroke recovery, but the prediction of long-term functional outcome remains an uncertain endeavor. In previous work, extinction to tactile, double-simultaneous stimulation has been shown to have short-term predictive utility. The present study was designed to examine its long-term prognostic value and to determine the relative importance of tactile extinction, cognitive functioning, and visual neglect as predictors of poststroke functional status.

Successive admissions to an acute-care facility (n = 26) were assessed three times: 1 month, 3.5 months, and 6 months after stroke. Hierarchical multiple regression, a procedure that maximizes the effect of the variables first entered, was used to predict functional status. Cognitive functioning and visual neglect were forced into the equation on the first step; tactile extinction was entered on the second step. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to compare the functional status of subjects with no extinction versus those who demonstrated extinction at the first assessment and later improved and those who continued to manifest the deficit.

Tactile extinction on the left-hand side of the body was the most important predictor of functional outcome. A significant group-by-time interaction implied that the course of improvement in functional status differed between the groups.

Tactile extinction shows promise as a predictor of poststroke functional status, but further work is required to substantiate the present findings.