Performance of American College Students on the Clock Drawing Test

Department

Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Annals of International Occupational Therapy

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:The goals of this study were to describe the performance of young adult college students on the Clock Drawing Test (CDT) and to compare their performance with published norms for well older adults.

METHODS:The CDT was administered to 112 college students with a standardized written script and protocol.

RESULTS:The study participants had higher CDT scores than published scores for well older adults. However, only 71.43% of subjects achieved a full score. The most common errors were minor inaccuracies in placement of the hands, depiction of no size difference between the hands, major errors in placement of the hands, and errors in spatial arrangement of the numbers on the clock face. No significant difference was found between the scores of subjects who reported using analog clocks regularly and the scores of subjects who did not.

CONCLUSION:Nearly 30% of college students in this study did not receive a full score on this common screening of cognition. This finding may be clinically significant. Although the results may be limited by sampling procedures, this study suggests the need for more normative studies to support clinical interpretation of the results and further research to explore the effect of digital technologies on CDT performance. [Annals of International Occupational Therapy. 2021;4(3):e172–e176.]

First Page

e172

Last Page

e176

DOI

10.3928/24761222-20210601-02

Volume

4

Issue

3

Publication Date

6-1-2021

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