Objective: The main objective was to assess the relative frequency and types of errors on the clock-drawing test (CDT) in normal elderly subjects, and the dependence of their CDT performance upon their age and education. Method: The CDT performance of 242 normal elderly subjects, stratified according to age and education, was analyzed using both an absolute error count and a modified scoring sheet derived from 2 scales. Results: Normal elderly subjects (average age: 73.4 ± 8.4 years; mean Mini-Mental State Examination score: 27.7 ± 1.6) often have problems placing figures on the clock face and differentiating the clock hands correctly. The absolute number of errors increases with age and decreases with formal school education. A cumulative effect of both high age and a low level of school education yields substantially inferior scores, on the modified scale used, in comparison with younger subjects and those with higher levels of education. Conclusion: The frequent errors made by normal elderly subjects, and a combined negative influence of high age and low education level, suggest caution when interpreting the significance of CDT performance in the elderly.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.