Performance on the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test in Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia.

Background: Alzheimer disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD) are the two most common age-associated dementias. Neuropsychologic studies have demonstrated visuoconstructional impairment in AD and in VaD.

Objective: This study used the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure to assess and compare specific aspects of visuoconstructional deficits in patients with AD, patients with VaD, and normal age-matched subjects.

Method: Thirteen normal controls, 20 patients with AD, and 20 patients with VaD were given a neuropsychologic battery as part of a comprehensive evaluation for dementia. The groups were similar in age and education, and the VaD and AD groups had comparable levels of dementia. Based on their previous research on visual deficits in AD, the authors devised a new scoring system that divided the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure into six perceptual categories: right, left, upper, lower, basic gestalt, and inner detail.

Results: Patients with AD and patients with VaD had significant deficits in all six Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure scoring categories compared with normal controls. Patients with AD exhibited a pattern of deficits similar to that of patients with VaD, with one significant exception: The patients with AD had increased left-sided errors or inattention.

Conclusions: These results suggest that left hemispatial inattention contributes to impaired performance on visuoconstructional tasks in AD.