Quantitative scoring of the cube drawing test: An empirical approach

In this paper we present a a quantitative approach that can be used to evaluate the results of a widely used bed-side test: the 3-D cube drawing. This test, with its many 3-D construction variants, has been utilized to assess visuospatial as well as constructional skills, mostly qualitatively. There are many ways of assigning quantitative scores to the processes applied by patients during problem solving, but any scoring method is only as good as the empirical, normative basis on which it rests. This is true in general for any neuropsychological assessment tool. Accordingly, we have attempted to demonstrate the utility of the proposed scoring scheme by documenting its construct validity against widely used measures of brain damage severity in TBI patients. Further research is needed to provide evidence of left-right differences, if any, in populations of patients with focal lesions. It will also be important to compare the results of the present scoring scheme against established visuospatial and constructional test results. These and other questions regarding the clinical utility of the present scheme for differentiating patterns in spatial/constructional deficits await future inquiry.