Selected sociodemographic and clinical predictors of the clock drawing test performance in Polish community dwelling seniors

Objectives: The clock drawing test (CDT) is a commonly used cognitive screening test. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of selected sociodemographic, clinical and lifestyle factors on the CDT performance in the Polish elderly population. Methods: CDT performance was assessed in 399 elderly subjects randomly selected out of all participants of a nationwide study on aging, PolSenior2, who met the inclusion criteria. CDT was scored using the Manos-Wu method. The short version of the Geriatric Depression Scale (15-item GDS) was used as a mood measuring tool. Results: Our study revealed a significant relationship between CDT performance and age. Multivariate regression analysis demonstrated also that interactions between reading newspapers and gender and between playing games and GDS score were independent predictors of an incorrect CDT. Of note, even though years of education were related to the CDT score (0-10) in the correlation analysis, education did not predict the global CDT score in the regression analysis. Conclusions: Advanced age was related to incorrect CDT performance. Engagement in some leisure activities may predict the CDT score, while global CDT performance, as assessed by the Manos-Wu method, is relatively unaffected by education.