Baycrest

10 • BrainMatters • Fall/Winter 2022 THE CLOCK DRAWING TEST A QUICK AND EFFECTIVE SCREENING TOOL FOR COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT AND DEMENTIA Dr. Morris Freedman, Head of Neurology at Baycrest, and Scientist at Baycrest's Rotman Research Institute. People with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia can greatly benefit from an early diagnosis. It means they can promptly access care and treatment options, and can plan ahead while they are still able to make important decisions. It also gives both the person and their caregivers a chance to learn about the disease and set realistic expectations together. However, early symptoms of dementia are very subtle, vague and vary between people. While there are a variety of cognitive assessments available, the clock drawing test is a quick and easy way to screen for dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. This nonverbal screening tool involves drawing a clock on a piece of paper with numbers, clock hands, and a specific time. To do so requires understanding the placement of the hands on a clock and interpreting the time they are intended to represent. This ability is often lost in people with early stage dementia. At Baycrest, Dr. Morris Freedman, Head of Neurology and Scientist at Baycrest's Rotman Research Institute, uses the free-drawn clock test because it is the most sensitive. In this test, a person is given a blank piece of paper and asked to draw the face of a clock, put in all the numbers, and set the hands to a certain time. The time setting is extremely important; various times are used, but ten after eleven is most common as it is a very sensitive time. In order to draw this time correctly, the ten needs to be recoded to a two. The clock drawing test is quick and easy to administer, and provides neurologists and other clinicians with a lot of information in a very short time. This simple tool is often used in combination with other screening tests but can provide valuable clues on its own. By examining a person's clock, you can identify various cognitive impairments — or a lack thereof. It is relatively easy to train non-professional staff to administer a clock drawing test. In the clinical setting, any healthcare professional who is trained in how to administer the test is able to do so. But, the interpretation is most often done by a physician or neuropsychologist. The clock drawing test is quick and easy to administer, and provides neurologists and other clinicians with a lot of information in a very shor t time. This simple tool is of ten used in combination with other screening tests but can provide valuable clues on its own.

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