Rehabilitation treatments for patients with stroke and unilateral neglect: A randomized controlled trial

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of voluntary trunk rotation and half-field eye-patching to treating patients with unilateral neglect in stroke. Method: A single-blinded randomized controlled trial in an inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Hong Kong. Sixty stroke in-patients with unilateral right lesion having neglect were randomly assigned to 3 groups: voluntary trunk rotation (TR), voluntary trunk rotation in combination with half-field eye-patching (TR+EP), conventional training (Control). Six subjects dropped out during interventions. Nineteen patients in TR received daily experimental training for 1 hour, five times a week for 30 days. Twenty patients received the same kind of treatment together with half-field eye -patching (TR +EP). Fifteen patients in control received conventional training with same contact time. Patients were assessed before the intervention, at week 4, and follow-up at week 8 by using a battery of neglect measures, the FIM instrument, and the MMSE. Result: Significant differences between TR and Control were found in the gain of FIM scores on transfer, locomotion, and total score from initial assessment to week 4. Neither TR nor TR+EP showed functional improvement and reduction of neglect at follow -up. Conclusion:Voluntary trunk rotation alone improved the motor aspects of patients' functional performance. This was not associated with a reduction of unilateral neglect.