The Clock Drawing Test is a quick and efficient technique used to evaluate patients' neuropsychiatric conditions. Its use as a trustworthy screening tool for cognitive dysfunction, particularly dementia, is supported by reviews of the research literature.
Although the clock-drawing test has been used in the majority of studies to evaluate cognition in the context of dementia screening, other conditions have also been examined. For instance, recent studies have reported the use of a clock-drawing test for determining the degree of hepatic encephalopathy and forecasting the course of rehabilitation following traumatic brain injury.
How to do the clock drawing test:
You’ll need a blank sheet, a highlighter or a pencil, and a friend’s help. Draw a clock and ask still another person to express the time (hours and minutes). For example, 10: 10 AM. Then draw minute and hour hands so they show the time your friend indicated.
This clock drawing test involves lots of processes in our brains. The parts of the brain accountable for arm movement, spatial, and visual perception start working harder and that’s why the shortcoming to draw a clock and clock hands may possibly be signs of early dementia.
The most commonly utilized system of qualitative clock-drawing test have 5 types of errors:
– graphic difficulties
– stimulus-bound response
– conceptual deficit
– planning deficit
– perseveration.
There’s also variability in how clock drawing tests are administered. Some recent tests provide a predrawn circle and different time-settings. Most formal tests first instruct the patient to draw a clock and then copy a clock. There is evidence that patients with Alzheimer’s disease make fewer errors on clock-drawing when asked to copy a clock, presumably while there is less utilization of executive functions and semantic memory.
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