The clinical utility of reproduction drawing tests with low IQ patients

Bedside mental status testing in low IQ, poorly educated patients is often difficult. These patients, who comprise a significant proportion of the population served by major inner city public hospitals, have a limited ability to perform adequately on many higher cortical function tests. Because of this, it is often difficult to accurately differentiate between an organic brain syndrome and the effect of depressed intelligence in these patients. Copying line drawings and other constructional tasks are a very important element in a complete mental status examination, as they are frequently failed by patients with organic brain disease. The applicability of drawing tasks in the low IQ patient is an important issue; this study demonstrates that selected drawings can be effectively utilized to identify brain dysfunction in this low IQ population.