Abstract

In clinical practice, different drawing tests are used for the assessment of cognitive efficiency in the geriatric population. However, so far, the contribution of motor skills to drawing performance has not been sufficiently examined in the late adult life span. This study was aimed at disentangling the role played by motor functioning in three well-known drawing tests that in the clinical field are commonly used to detect some signs of cognitive impairment of older individuals. One hundred and forty-nine community dwellers (M_age = 77.4 years, SD = 5.9 years) completed a battery of tests assessing global cognitive efficiency, drawing skills (i.e., Clock Drawing, Visuo-spatial Drawing ACE-R, Copy Figures Tests), handgrip muscular strength (HGS), and functional mobility (assessed through the Timed-Up-and-Go test). Significant relationships were found among those measures. Moreover, handgrip strength and functional mobility explained 12–19% of the variance in each drawing condition. Finally, participants exhibiting poorer HGS performed worse the drawing tasks and were successively recognized as cognitively deteriorated. In conclusion, these findings highlight that motor skills can significantly impact the assessment of cognitive efficiency in late adulthood. Therefore, in clinical practice, the concurrent assessment of basic motor functions (in terms of muscular strength and functional mobility) and cognitive efficiency of the geriatric population at risk for cognitive decline should be encouraged.

摘要

在临床实践中，不同的绘图测试用于评估老年人的认知效率。然而，到目前为止，在成年晚期，运动技能对绘画表现的贡献尚未得到充分研究。这项研究旨在弄清运动功能在临床领域通常用于检测老年人认知障碍的一些迹象的三个著名绘图测试中所起的作用。149 名社区居民（M_年龄= 77.4 岁，SD = 5.9 年）完成了一系列评估全局认知效率、绘图技能（即时钟绘图、视觉空间绘图 ACE-R、复制图形测试）、握力肌肉力量 (HGS) 和功能灵活性（通过计时评估）的测试-Up-and-Go 测试）。在这些措施之间发现了重要的关系。此外，握力和功能移动性解释了每种绘图条件下 12-19% 的差异。最后，表现出较差 HGS 的参与者在绘画任务中表现较差，并被连续识别为认知能力下降。总之，这些发现强调运动技能可以显着影响成年后期的认知效率评估。因此，在临床实践中，