Clock drawing, clock reading, clock setting, and judgment of clock faces in elderly people with dementia and depression.
OBJECTIVE
To assess patient performance on different clock tasks.


METHODS
Group comparisons.


METHODS
A hospital-based memory clinic; inpatient and outpatient memory clinic.


METHODS
Patients with dementia (n=30), patients with depression (n=30), and healthy controls (n=30).


METHODS
General neuropsychological tests, clock drawing tests, and three additional clock tasks: clock reading, clock setting, and judgment of clock faces (each comprising 12 items).


RESULTS
Demented patients differed significantly from the control and depression groups on all clock tasks; controls and depressed patients differed only in the clock-setting task. A comparison between tasks showed that clock setting was the most difficult, which differentiated best between diagnostic groups. Groups differed not only in overall performance scores, but also in error characteristics.


CONCLUSIONS
Overall, study results indicate that clock setting is a sensitive task that may prove to be a valuable tool when screening for dementia.
Bodner
Thomas
T
Department of Biological Psychiatry, Innsbruck University Clinics, Innsbruck, Austria. thomas.bodner@uklibk.ac.at
Delazer
Margarete
M
Kemmler
Georg
G
Gurka
Peter
P
Marksteiner
Josef
J
Fleischhacker
W Wolfgang
WW
D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D003704:Dementia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D013995:Time