Visual and haptic verticality misperception and trunk control within 72 h after stroke

• Published in: Journal of bodywork and movement therapies Vol. 27; pp. 676 - 681
• Main Authors: Pascucci Sande de Souza, Luciane Aparecida, Ferreira, Luana Ribeiro, Silva Bitencourt, Ana Carolina, Bazan, Rodrigo, Luvizutto, Gustavo José
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2021
• Subjects: Stroke; Subjective haptic vertical; Subjective visual vertical; Trunk; Verticality; Trunk; Stroke; Subjective haptic vertical; Subjective visual vertical; Verticality
• ISSN: 1360-8592; 1532-9283
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jbmt.2021.05.005

Stroke patients often exhibit an altered perception of verticality, but there are no studies evaluating verticality perception in the first 72 h after stroke and its relationship with trunk control. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze visual and haptic verticality in the acute phase of stroke. This was a cross-sectional study conducted with two groups: (a) 13 individuals with stroke and (b) 12 healthy participants. We assessed verticality via the subjective visual vertical (SVV) and the subjective haptic vertical (SHV); and we measured trunk control with the Trunk Impairment Scale (TIS). We performed t-tests to compare the SVV and SHV between groups. Pearson correlation was performed between verticality tests with National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and the TIS. Participants with recent stroke presented higher true and absolute SVV deviation values than did the control group. There was significant negative correlation between absolute (r = −0.57; p = 0.02) and true SVV (r = −0.54; p = 0.01) with TIS scores There was also significant positive correlation between absolute (r = 0.63; p = 0.009) and true SVV (r = 0.61; p = 0.003) with NIHSS. A significant negative correlation between NIHSS and TIS scores also was found (r = −0.80; p = 0.005). Individuals with acute stroke presented larger variability in their perceptions of visual verticality than did healthy controls, and verticality perceptions were positively correlated with trunk impairment.