Performance on the Hooper Visual Organizational Test in patients diagnosed with subcortical vascular dementia: relation to naming performance.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the performance of individuals with vascular dementia (VaD) on the Hooper Visual Organization Test (HVOT) and to determine the influence of naming on HVOT performance in this population.


BACKGROUND
The HVOT is commonly administered to assess visuospatial perception among neurologic patients, but the test requires verbal identification of stimuli as well as spatial ability. Previous studies have examined the influence of naming on the HVOT, but the issue has not been systematically addressed in individuals with subcortical VaD.


METHODS
Individuals with a diagnosis of VaD were administered the HVOT, three additional measures of visuospatial function (Block Design and Picture Completion subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised, Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test copy trial), and the Boston Naming Test (BNT).


RESULTS
On average, the VaD patients performed poorly compared with normative data on each of the cognitive measures, with the most pronounced deficit evident on the BNT. Regression analyses revealed that more than 60% of the variance in performance on the HVOT was accounted for by performance on the Block Design subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised; performance on the BNT did not contribute significantly.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that VaD patients perform below expectations on the HVOT and that the measure is robust to naming deficits in this population.
Paul
R
R
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown Medical School, Miriam Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island 20906, USA. rpaul@lifespan.org
Cohen
R
R
Moser
D
D
Ott
B
B
Zawacki
T
T
Gordon
N
N
D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D003566:Cytidine Diphosphate Choline / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
D018697:Nootropic Agents; D003566:Cytidine Diphosphate Choline