The non-paretic-hand-to-opposite-ear test: A simple test to detect aphasia and neglect and an indicator of large anterior vessel occlusion in patients with suspected acute stroke

IntroductionAphasia and neglect in combination with hemiparesis are reliable indicators of large anterior vessel occlusion (LAVO). Prehospital identification of these symptoms is generally considered difficult by emergency medical service (EMS) personnel. Therefore, we evaluated the simple non-paretic-hand-to-opposite-ear (NPE) test to identify aphasia and neglect with a single test. As the NPE test includes a test for arm paresis, we also evaluated the diagnostic ability of the NPE test to detect LAVO in patients with suspected stroke.MethodsIn this prospective observational study, we performed the NPE test in 1042 patients with suspected acute stroke between May 2021 and May 2022. We analyzed the correlation between the NPE test and the aphasia/neglect items of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale. Additionally, the predictive values of the NPE test for LAVO detection were calculated.ResultsThe NPE test showed a strong, significant correlation with both aphasia and neglect. A positive NPE test result predicted LAVO with a sensitivity of 0.70, a specificity of 0.88, and an accuracy of 0.85. Logistic regression analysis showed an odds ratio of 16.14 (95% confidence interval 10.82-24.44) for predicting LAVO.ConclusionThe NPE test is a simple test for the detection of both aphasia and neglect. With its predictive values for LAVO detection being comparable to the results of LAVO scores in the prehospital setting, this simple test might be a promising test for prehospital LAVO detection by EMS personnel. Further prospective prehospital validation is needed. The non-paretic-hand-to-opposite-ear (NPE) test is a simple, rapid and easy-to-perform test for the detection of both aphasia and neglect in patients with suspected acute stroke. The results of this study indicate that its predictive values for large anterior vessel occlusion are comparable to the results of prehospital stroke severity scales, making the NPE a promising test for prehospital detection of large anterior vessel occlusion by paramedics. image