Using the Virtual Action Planning-Supermarket for Evaluating Executive Functions in People with Stroke

Abstract

Our objectives are (1) to establish construct validity by comparing task performance with the Virtual Action Planning-Supermarket (VAP-S) by patients with stroke to healthy matched control subjects, (2) to establish concurrent validity by exploring relationships between VAP-S performance and Executive Functions (EFs) and ecological validity by exploring relationships between VAP-S performance and the Observed Tasks of Daily Living-Revised (OTDL-R), a measure of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL), and (3) to determine which measures predict IADL performance in patients with stroke. The research group included 24 men and women, aged 44-65years, poststroke and the control group included 24 matched healthy people. The VAP-S and the Behavioral Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome (BADS) were administered to evaluate EF. The stroke patients were tested with the OTDL-R. Significant differences between groups were found for 2 outcome measures of the VAP-S. In the research group, significant (P ≤ .05) moderate correlations were found between the VAP-S number of purchases and the BADS key search subtest (r = .48) and between the VAP-S number of correct actions and both the BADS action program (r = .47) and key search (r = .52) subtests. An exploratory stepwise multiple regression showed that the VAP-S number of correct actions and the profile score of the BADS were able to predict 56.2% of OTDL-R performance for the clients. The VAP-S showed adequate validity and an ability to predict IADL performance, providing support for its use in cognitive stroke rehabilitation.