Somatosensory impairment after stroke: frequency of different deficits and their recovery

TLDR: The different somatosensory modalities showed only slight agreement between impairment within the same body areas, suggesting that the modalities are independent of each other and all should be assessed.

Abstract: Objective: To investigate the frequency of somatosensory impairment in stroke patients within different somatosensory modalities and different body areas, and their recovery.Design: Prospective observational study.Setting: Two stroke rehabilitation units.Subjects: Seventy patients with a first stroke (36 men, 34 women; average age, 71, SD 10.00 years; average time since stroke onset, 15 days) were assessed on admission and two, four and six months after stroke.Interventions: Not applicable.Main measure: Nottingham Sensory Assessment.Results: Somatosensory impairment was common after stroke; 7—53% had impaired tactile sensations, 31—89% impaired stereognosis, and 34—64% impaired proprioception. When comparing somatosensory modalities within body areas the kappa values were low (kappa values <0.54). Recovery occurred over time, though not significantly in lower limb tactile sensations. Stroke severity was the main factor influencing initial somatosensory impairment, but accounted for a small amount of the v...