Objective assessment of praxis-the oap diagram:-simply testing for dementia

Cognitive assessment schedules for the elderly are often complex, cumbersome or highly dependent on memory function. Performance on visuoconstructive tests, which are often easily undertaken, is not dependent on ‘dominance’ of either hemisphere. Unfortunately, such tests often have complex objective and subjective scoring criteria, making standardization difficult. We have designed a structured diagram and scoring system which proved simple to administer and score and performance on which correlated well with intellectual function on the CAPE, while, unlike the Gibson Spiral Maze (GSM), those without dementia tended not to make any mistakes. Scoring on the GSM was also affected by age and the presence of parietal signs to a greater extent than the OAP, suggesting that the GSM may overestimate cognitive impairment in the population for which it was designed. Some possible uses for the OAP as a new test in the assessment of the elderly are discussed.