Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to clarify functional prognosis in causal association with neglect after a stroke for the purpose of informing nursing care.
Method: A literature review covering the period from 1968 to 2006 was carried out using electronic databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO), using the following key words; stroke, neglect, and functional prognosis. Twenty-three observational researches concerning functional evaluation methods and periods and functional outcome were reviewed.
Results: The articles were classified into two types of research: comparison of left-brain damaged and right-brain damaged stroke patients, focusing on the right-brain damaged stroke patients with neglect. The findings revealed that right-brain damaged stroke patients have poorer functional prognosis than left-brain damaged patients, and neglect is a risk factor for independence in activities of daily living, self care ability, and rehabilitation in the chronic phase after onset. However, knowledge is still unclear how neglect concretely influences patient's daily life.
Conclusion: Neglect is the risk factor in activities of daily living and self-care ability among right-brain damaged stroke patients. Further studies and challenges are suggested as follows:clarifying concrete daily-life difficulties related to neglect, establishing caring method for stroke patients, and examining usability and standardization of neuropsychological assessments in nursing practices.
