NIHSS Extinction and Inattention 4

Question 1

Anosognosia, the unawareness of one's own neurological deficit, is BEST captured under which NIHSS item?

Accepted Answer

Item 11 — Extinction and Inattention

Answer

Anosognosia represents a form of inattention to one's own body or deficit and is captured under NIHSS Item 11.

Question 2

A patient consistently neglects the left side of space visually and does not respond to left-sided touch during simultaneous stimulation, but when shown a bright light on the left alone, notices it. The NIHSS Item 11 score is:

Accepted Answer

2

Answer

Multi-modal extinction (visual + tactile) on simultaneous stimulation despite preserved single-sided perception scores 2.

Question 3

A nurse documents that a patient 'dresses only the right side of the body and only eats food on the right side of the plate.' These behaviors MOST directly suggest:

Accepted Answer

Hemispatial neglect scoring 2 on Item 11

Answer

Unilateral dressing and eating neglect are classic functional manifestations of hemispatial neglect assessed by NIHSS Item 11.

Question 4

Which pairing of neurological deficit and NIHSS Item 11 score is INCORRECT?

Accepted Answer

No extinction or neglect → 1

Answer

No extinction or neglect should score 0, not 1; a score of 1 requires at least one modality showing inattention.

Question 5

During NIHSS testing, the examiner wiggles fingers simultaneously in both visual fields. The patient with a large right hemisphere stroke consistently looks only to the right. This represents:

Accepted Answer

Visual extinction scored under Item 11

Answer

Consistently attending only to the ipsilesional side during bilateral visual stimulation indicates visual extinction/neglect scored under Item 11.

NIHSS - National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale Practice Test

NIHSS - National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale Practice Test

NIHSS Extinction and Inattention 4