Impairment and recovery profiles of sensory-motor function following stroke: single-case graphical analysis techniques.

Graphical analysis procedures have been developed to improve interpretation of sensory-motor tests from individual subjects following acute brain damage. The procedures have been applied to 11 unilateral stroke patients assessed serially over 12 months on a computerized quantitative sensory-motor test battery of which grip strength, arm speed, and tracking have been chosen for illustrative purposes. The results indicate that four graphs are necessary to fully demonstrate neurologic impairment and recovery of each sensory-motor function, although fewer graphs would be satisfactory in some applications. Such analyses have proven valuable in the display of serial performance of individual patients but demonstration of impairment and recovery is much more difficult than for group analyses.