Conclusion
stroke, cognitive impairments, visuospatial/executive impairments
STROKE
The results of the current study indicate that the previously shown associations between visuospatial and executive function, and activity performance, in the early stage after stroke, remain long-term. Additionally, visuospatial/executive function was associated with the effect of conventional gait training both at 6 weeks and 6 months, where a higher level of visuospatial/executive function indicated a larger improvement. In the HAL-group no such association was found, indicating improvements all over the spectrum of assessed visuospatial/executive function. These results imply that HAL-training may be suitable for persons with more severe visuospatial/executive impairments who may not benefit from conventional gait and mobility training. However, additional studies are needed to explore this association further. Also, future research is suggested to evaluate specific aspects of visuospatial and executive functions, measured by a larger battery of cognitive assessment tools, to identify aspects especially important in predicting mobility outcome after an intervention. This can improve the accuracy in individualizing gait interventions to achieve the largest improvements also among persons with more severe cognitive impairments.