Development of a questionnaire for detecting everyday problems in stroke patients with unilateral visual neglect

Abstract

Unilateral Visual Neglect can affect everyday behaviours such as reading, but there have been few attempts at measuring subjective accounts of these difficulties. The present study reports on the reliability and validity of a questionnaire designed to detect the problems experienced by patients with visual neglect. Sixty-four right hemisphere lesioned stroke patients and 49 of their relatives completed a questionnaire concerning problems in everyday life. The neglect subjects did not report significantly more problems than the non-neglect subjects. However, on the relative's questionnaire, neglect subjects were seen as having significantly more difficulties. The most frequently reported problems were similar for both subject groups. Scores on the neglect questionnaire were correlated with performance on a star cancellation test, indicating the validity of the questionnaire. The possible application of this type of questionnaire is discussed.