The contribution of motor efficiency to drawing performance of older people with and without signs of cognitive decline

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.

Keywords:

• Aging
• drawing
• handgrip
• cognitive decline
• motor skills

Informed consent

The study was conducted in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments. Written informed consent was given by all participants or their legal guardians prior to participation.

Disclosure statement

The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.

Authors’ contributions

I.M., V.P., D.V., G.A., and I. Ma. recruited the participants, collected the data, and were responsible for the scoring and the preparation of the input databases. M.C.F. and M.P. conceived the study. M. P. was in charge of overall direction and planning and M.C.F. took the lead in conducting the data analyses and writing the manuscript. M.P. contributed to the preparation and review of the draft manuscript. M.C.F. and M.P. revised the manuscript. All authors discussed the results, commented on the manuscript, and approved the final version of it.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.