The long-term consequences of subarachnoid haemorrhage. 1: Prevalence of impairments

Abstract

This investigation focuses on the prevalence of motor, language, perceptual and memory impairments in long-term survivors of subarachnoid haemorrhage. The prevalence of different impairments was as follows: language 10%, motor 25%, perception 45% (a prevalence that may be age-dependent), and memory 73%. A total of 82% of the subjects had at least one impairment, and impairments of perception and long-term memory were particularly common with a ruptured anterior communicant artery. A factor analysis showed that perceptual function/impairment could be separated into two entities: lower- versus higher-order perception. Another factor analysis separated higher-order perception from memory, casting doubt upon assessment methods that aggregate these two entities.