COPYING AND HANDWRITING ABILITY IN THE SCREENING OF COGNITIVE DYSFUNCTION IN OLD-AGE

Geometric copying and handwriting tests are often assessed in the scre ening of cognitive deficiency in the elderly. The aim of the study was to show the regression of geometrical copying and handwriting with in creasing cognitive impairment in old age. The study is population-base d and includes 668 subjects aged 75 years and older, living in an inne r-city area of Stockholm. The subjects were asked to copy a cube, two pentagons, a rhombus, two intersecting rectangles, and a circle. They were also asked to write a complete sentence spontaneously, a sentence from dictation and their name. Geometric copying and handwriting skil ls decreased in direct proportion to decreased cognitive functioning. The skills most sensitive to small changes in cognition were copying t he cube and the pentagons. Other skills were less sensitive to small c hanges: writing a complete sentence, copying a rhombus, two rectangles and writing one's name. However, copying and handwriting appear to co mplement each other. Copying of the rectangles and rhombus is more use ful than the other figures because these two can be discriminated thro ughout different stages of dementia. Sentence writing from dictation a nd signature can be used to evaluate severely impaired subjects becaus e these skills seem to be retained longer than the spontaneous sentenc e writing