Impairments of Perceptual and Motor Functions: Their Influence on Self-Care Ability 4 to 6 Years after a Stroke

In this study of 75 long-term (4–6 years) survivors of stroke, motor function, perceptual function, and the ability to manage self-care were assessed. In congruence with previous findings for a sample investigated within 2 weeks after a stroke, perceptual functions could be grouped into two distinct and statistically different factors. In terms of the ecological perceptual model, one of the factors reflects low-order perception and the other, high-order perception. Neither motor nor perceptual impairments occurred in more than half the sample. A regression analysis incorporating the motor dimension and the two perceptual dimensions explained 71% of the variance in self-care ability. This analysis showed that 4 to 6 years after a stroke, the influence of impairments in motor function is about as great as that of impairments in perceptual functions.