Vata-m: Visual-analogue Test Assessing Anosognosia for Motor Impairment

There has been a growing interest in anosognosia in both clinical and research domains, yet relatively little attention has been paid to methods for evaluating it. Usually, the presence and severity of anosognosia is assessed by means of structured interviews or questionnaires. Both interviews and questionnaires can provide valuable information, but they rely heavily on self-evaluation and language, and are therefore prone to bias and pose more difficulty in the assessment of aphasic patients. The aim of this study was to develop a new tool, the VATA-m (Visual-Analogue Test for Anosognosia for motor impairment), to assess explicit anosognosia for motor impairments. The VATA-m is a questionnaire that compares a patient's self-evaluation with a caregivers' evaluation of the patient's abilities on a series of motor tasks. In addition, the test overcomes some of the limitations of the existing structured interviews and questionnaires, by enhancing reliability, improving data interpretation and diagnosis, and enabling assessment of patients with aphasia.