La Trobe

Calibration of Impairment Severity to Enable Comparison across Somatosensory Domains

journal contribution
posted on 2025-01-14, 23:07 authored by Thomas MatyasThomas Matyas, Yvonne Mak-YuenYvonne Mak-Yuen, TP Boelsen-Robinson, Leeanne CareyLeeanne Carey
Comparison across somatosensory domains, important for clinical and scientific goals, requires prior calibration of impairment severity. Provided test score distributions are comparable across domains, valid comparisons of impairment can be made by reference to score locations in the corresponding distributions (percentile rank or standardized scores). However, this is often not the case. Test score distributions for tactile texture discrimination (n = 174), wrist joint proprioception (n = 112), and haptic object identification (n = 98) obtained from pooled samples of stroke survivors in rehabilitation settings were investigated. The distributions showed substantially different forms, undermining comparative calibration via percentile rank or standardized scores. An alternative approach is to establish comparable locations in the psychophysical score ranges spanning performance from just noticeably impaired to maximally impaired. Several simulation studies and a theoretical analysis were conducted to establish the score distributions expected from completely insensate responders for each domain. Estimates of extreme impairment values suggested by theory, simulation and observed samples were consistent. Using these estimates and previously discovered values for impairment thresholds in each test domain, comparable ranges of impairment from just noticeable to extreme impairment were found. These ranges enable the normalization of the three test scales for comparison in clinical and research settings.

Funding

Effectiveness of training somatosensation in the hand after stroke: A randomized controlled trial.

National Health and Medical Research Council

Find out more...

Brain adaptation associated with spontaneous and training-induced recovery of touch sensation post-stroke.

National Health and Medical Research Council

Find out more...

Effective sensory rehabilitation after stroke: Targeting viable brain networks.

National Health and Medical Research Council

Find out more...

A network of sites and â up-skilledâ therapists to deliver best practice stroke rehabilitation of the upper limb.

National Health and Medical Research Council

Find out more...

Staying connected: personalising stroke recovery and rehabilitation through new technologies for people with stroke living at home.

National Health and Medical Research Council

Find out more...

La Trobe University Post Graduate Scholarships awarded to Y.Y.K.M.-Y.

History

Publication Date

2023-04-13

Journal

Brain Sciences

Volume

13

Issue

4

Article Number

654

Pagination

21p.

Publisher

MDPI

ISSN

2076-3425

Rights Statement

© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/