Meal preparation abilities after left or right hemisphere stroke

Objective: To examine meal preparation ability after right or left hemisphere damage (RHD, LHD) caused by stroke and whether cognitive (spatial abilities, aphasia, limb apraxia) and motor deficits are differentially associated with meal preparation. Design Observational cohort design. Setting Primary care Veterans Affair Medical Center and private medical center. Participants Volunteer right-handed sample of adults with LHD (n=30) or RHD (n=16) caused by stroke and healthy demographically matched adults (n=63) (N=109). Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures Total completion time, number and type of errors, and level of independence for a meal preparation task consisting of making a hot beverage and toast, eating part of the meal, and clean-up. Results Both stroke groups took significantly more time to complete the meal preparation task than the control group. Total errors and level of independence were worse in the group with LHD than other groups, but individual errors did not significantly differ between the 2 stroke groups. While correlations should be interpreted cautiously, especially in the relatively small RHD group, poorer ipsilesional motor performance was associated with longer completion time in the RHD group, and poorer contralesional motor performance and greater aphasia were associated with less independence in the LHD group. Conclusions These findings demonstrate impaired meal preparation after LHD or RHD but greater impairment after LHD. Poorer meal preparation is associated with different cognitive and motor deficits in the 2 stroke groups.