The relationship of cognitive skills performance to activities of daily living in stroke patients

This article reports on two studies that examine the relationship between measurements of activities of daily living (ADL) and cognitive skills performance. Study 1 is a post hoc analysis of ADL improvement scores collected on acute stroke patients who were either given or not given cognitive skills remediation. An examination of individual ADL scores showed significantly higher personal hygiene, bathing, and toilet activity improvement scores for patients receiving cognitive skills remediation. In Study 2, cognitive skills and ADL pre- and posttest scores for stroke patients were measured by occupational therapists, who also implemented an ADL as well as a cognitive skills remediation program as part of the patient's therapy. Some significant positive correlations between initial cognitive skills measurements and ADL outcome were found. The best correlate of patients' ADL performance at discharge was performance on an auditory attention task. Verbal comprehension correlated with overall ADL improvement, and overall cognitive skills improvement correlated with overall ADL improvement. Implications of these two studies are discussed.