Use of Bells Test in the Evaluation of the Hemineglect Post Unilateral Stroke

The Bells Test is a cancellation task with distractors that requires visual exploration. It can evaluate visual hemineglect. The aim of this study was to compare performance between groups (right brain damage, left brain damage and healthy controls) in the Bells Test, as well as to evaluate and characterize the evaluation of hemineglect through this instrument. Forty-six stroke patients and 46 healthy controls were evaluated with Bells Test. In general patients with right brain damage had more omissions than those with left brain damage and healthy controls in left (p = 0.06) and right columns (p = 0.06), and total of omissions (p = 0.02). They also took longer to complete (showed a long time to perform) the task (p ≤ 0.001). In addition, we identified 22% of the right brain damage sample with signs of hemineglect, greater prevalence of disorganized strategies and a cancellation starting pattern more to the right field. The Bells Test showed significant applicability to differentiate the groups.