Prism goggles as treatment for stroke patients unable to attend to one side of the body

Institution:
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol
Principal Investigator:
Dr Ailie Turton
Region: South West
Grant value: £130,490 over 30 months
Start date: September 2004
Status: complete

Following a stroke some patients may have unilateral attention; a condition where one is unable to attend to, or unaware, of one side of the body and the environment surrounding it. As a result the patient typically has difficulty in carrying out everyday tasks such as eating, getting dressed and moving around. When people have a stroke the damage usually occurs on one particular side of the brain. In some people the brain can become unaware of one side of the body and the environment surrounding it, indicating that the system that pays attention to that side has been disrupted. This can cause the person to neglect activities involving that side of the body, resulting in difficulties with everyday tasks such as eating, getting dressed and moving around.

Recently an exciting new treatment using ‘prism goggles’ has been shown to help patients. The goggles use wide field prismatic lenses to help the patient to pay attention to the relevant side of the body. However, it is still not known whether a patients’ independence is improved by wearing the goggles.

This study aims to investigate the effects of wearing the goggles on stroke patients’ abilities to carry out everyday tasks. If the treatment is effective it is hoped that the length of time spent in hospital by patients will be decreased and their long-term independence will be improved.

Scientific Title: The effect of using a prism adaptation treatment on performance of self care and mobility tasks in patients with unilateral inattention following stroke

Classification:
Rehabilitation, Quality of life