Clock tests in depression, Alzheimer's disease, and elderly controls.
OBJECTIVE
While clock-drawing tests are commonly used to screen for cognitive impairment in the elderly, little is known about the performance of elderly depressives.


METHODS
We compared thirty-three patients with major depression to forty-two Alzheimer's disease and thirty age-matched controls on clock-drawing, copying, and reading.


RESULTS
Patients with Alzheimer's disease had significantly lower scores on clock-drawing, copying, and reading than patients with depression or the controls (p < 0.05). Patients with depression did not differ significantly from controls on quantitative scores or qualitative errors.


CONCLUSIONS
Clock tests may be useful for identifying depressed patients with underlying dementia.
Herrmann
N
N
Department of Psychiatry, Sunnybrook Health Science Centre.
Kidron
D
D
Shulman
K I
KI
Kaplan
E
E
Binns
M
M
Leach
L
L
Freedman
M
M
D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology*; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013998:Time Perception