ADL differences in individuals with unilateral hemispheric stroke.

Background: Literature regarding the ability of individuals who have a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) to perform activities of daily living (ADL) is inconclusive regarding the impact of gender, age or side of the lesion.

Purpose: To determine if people with a CVA differ in their abilities to perform ADL tasks and actions as affected by their gender, age, and side of the lesion.

Method: A descriptive comparison of 3878 people with a right or left CVA included in the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS) database.

Results: People with stroke demonstrated statistically significant gender, age, and side of CVA differences in overall ADL ability. However, the gender and side of CVA differences were not clinically detectable. Increased age was associated with a gradual decline in ADL ability.

Conclusion: Individuals with a right or left CVA have similar abilities when performing ADL tasks and actions.

Practice Implications: These findings indicate that occupation-based intervention, which focuses on the utilization of intact ADL skills to compensate for ADL skill deficits (vs. the utilization of tests of body function), may be a more efficient and effective means of planning and implementing occupational therapy intervention for individuals with a stroke.