Diagnostic Accuracy of the Overlapping Infinity Loops, Wire Cube, and Clock Drawing Tests for Cognitive Impairment in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia

Int J Alzheimers Dis. 2017:2017:5289239. doi: 10.1155/2017/5289239. Epub 2017 Jan 31.

Abstract

Purpose. To investigate the diagnostic accuracy of the overlapping infinity loops, wire cube, and clock drawing tests (CDT) in the detection of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. Method. The participants were 60 normal controls (NC), 35 patients with MCI, and 47 patients with mild dementia. Results. The results illustrate that infinity loops, cube, or CDT were not able to discriminate between NC and MCI groups. In dementia detection, the CDT had the highest diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity 76.6% and specificity 87.4%) followed by infinity loops (sensitivity 63.8% and specificity 91.6%) and cube (sensitivity 93.6% and specificity 46.3%). Conclusion. This study demonstrates that the three drawing tests are sensitive detectors of dementia but not MCI.