Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a 2-week somatosensory stimulation program on cognitive function and ADL of patients with brain damage.
METHODS
The sample consisted of two groups of patients with stroke: 10 patients with a mean age of 59.0 years who were treated with somatosensory stimulation, and 9 patients with a mean age of 51.78 years, who were not treated with somatosensory intervention. A nonequivalent control group non-synchronized design was used to assess the functional recovery after stroke. Instruments used in this study were MMSE-K for cognitive function and FIM for ADL.
RESULTS
The hypothesis 1 that "Patients with stroke who were treated with the somatosensory stimulation program will show higher MMSE-K score than that of the non-treatment group" was supported(Z = -2.390, p = .017). The hypothesis 2 that "Patients with stroke who were treated with the somatosensory stimulation program will show higher FIM score than that of the non-treatment group", however, was partially supported(social cognition: Z = -2.204, p = .045).
CONCLUSION
Somatosensory stimulation was effective to patients with stroke in improving their cognitive function. These findings suggest that somatosensory input can be adopted to nursing intervention for functional recovery after stroke.

• Keywords: Stroke, Somatosensory stimulation, Cognitive function, ADL