CLOCK DRAWING IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

The Clock Drawing Test, a task sensitive to cognitive decline in neuro logical groups, was administered to 27 patients with schizophrenia. Cl ock drawings were scored for over-all global performance and the frequ ency of specific qualitative errors. Mean global performance scores in dicated a small proportion of the sample was below the threshold typic ally used to identify dementia, and the patients displayed qualitative Clock Drawing deficits not fully represented in the global performanc e measure. Qualitative analyses indicated that size errors, graphic di fficulty, and spatial planning problems were most common. Lastly, dura tion of illness was not related to global performance, suggesting that the latter might not reflect deterioration but the stable trajectory of impairment that may be constant through the schizophrenia illness.