Performance on figure ground perception following stroke induced hemiplegia: A compairson of pre-and post-rehabilitation with the neurologically unimpaired

This article compares performance times on the Figure Ground Perception (FGP) of the Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests (SIPT) in persons with stroke-induced hemiplegia and unimpaired older persons. Two hundred and twelve right dominant persons with hemiplegia on admission and discharge from comprehensive rehabilitation and 321 neurologically unimpaired persons in the community were evaluated on the FGP subtests of the SIPT. There were significant differences in performance between unimpaired persons and those with hemiplegia following a stroke. Among the persons with stroke-induced hemiplegia, performance on discharge was significantly better than on admission across all five FGP subtests. Age, sex, and severity of hemiplegia also affected performance on specific subtests; the influence of laterality was significant in persons with right hemispheric lesions; and persons with Wernicke's aphasia performed more poorly. Although further investigation is clearly needed, the association of increasing age (particularly males 75 years and over), severity of hemiplegia, and presence of aphasia on FGP performance suggest that these factors should be considered in the development of rehabilitation programs for stroke patients.