Somatosensory Assessment after Central Nerve Damage: the Need for Standardized Clinical Measures

Following stroke, somatosensory loss is a common and important predictor of the extent of functional recovery. The clinical value of somatosensory assessment has, however, been repeatedly questioned in the medical literature. The major criticism concerns test reliability and patient variability. Given the importance of identifying clinically significant signs of sensory loss the challenge is to design a short, quantifiable and reliable test. This paper selectively reviews the problems surrounding somatosensory assessment and considers some of the important features when developing a standardized clinical measure