ABSTRACT

Objective: This study aims to present basic data that can be used in establishing occupational therapy intervention in medical institutions by comparing the perception of spatial relation according to the general characteristics and cognitive function of acute stroke patients. Methods: This study involved 36 stroke patients admitted to a medical center. Minnesota Spatial Relations Test (MSRT) and Korean version of Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-K) were used as the evaluation tools. To compare the perception of spatial relation according to the general characteristics and cognitive function, independent sample t-test and one-way analysis of variance were applied. Results: Among the general characteristics of acute stroke patients, the MSRT performance time according to age group (p < .01), period of onset (p < .05), lesion side of the brain hemisphere (p < .01), education (p < .05), and cognitive function (p < .01) showed statistically significant differences. Comparing the performance time, people over 70 took longer than those under 40 (age group), those with a period of onset of under 1 month took longer than those over 3 months (period of onset), those with right side brain hemisphere lesions took longer than those with left side brain hemisphere lesions (side of brain hemisphere lesions), and uneducated patients took longer than educated patients (education). In addition, the performance time in patients with impaired cognitive function was longer than for normal patients. Conclusion: This study showed that the perception of spatial relations differs depending on age group, period of onset, side of brain hemisphere lesions, education, and cognitive function of acute stroke patients. In the future, we hope that study will be conducted on patients with other diseases as well as stroke patients, and that results of this study will help establish occupational therapy intervention.