title: The Tree-Drawing Test (Koch's Baum Test): A Useful Aid to Diagnose Cognitive Impairment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the Tree-Drawing Test in a group of demented patients and compare it with a group of mild cognitively impaired patients (MCI) and controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consecutive outpatients were classified as affected by dementia (Alzheimer's disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and vascular dementia (VD)) or by MCI. Patients and controls underwent the Tree-Drawing Test and MMSE.
  
  
  RESULTS
  118 AD, 19 FTD, 46 VD, and 132 MCI patients and 90 controls were enrolled. AD patients draw trees globally smaller than other patients and controls. FTD patients draw trees with a wider space occupation than AD and MCI patients but smaller than controls as well as VD patients. Trees drawn by MCI patients are intermediate in size between AD patients and controls. The trunk-to-crown ratio of trees drawn by cognitive impaired patients is greater than controls while the tree size-relative-to-page space index is significantly smaller. The tree size-relative-to-page space index of trees drawn by AD patients is smaller than that of the other cognitively impaired patients. Tree height and the trunk-to-crown ratio are independent predictors of cognitive impairment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Trees drawn by cognitively impaired patients are different from those drawn by healthy subjects with a progressive differentiation from mild to more relevant degrees of cognitive impairment.
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, 40139 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Michelangelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stanzani Maserati
authors.affiliation: General Hospital of Imola, Cognitive Disorders Center, Imola, 40026 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Corrado
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Matacena
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, 40139 Bologna, Italy ; Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e NeuroMotorie, Università di Bologna, 40123 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sambati
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, 40139 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Oppi
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, 40139 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Poda
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e NeuroMotorie, Università di Bologna, 40123 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Maddalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Matteis
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e NeuroMotorie, Università di Bologna, 40123 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gallassi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D057180:Frontotemporal Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D020774:Pick Disease of the Brain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis