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Objective: To develop a simple clock drawing score system for patients with Alzheimer's disease, that correlates with the MMSE (Folstein Mini Mental Status Examination).1 Design: A retrospective analysis of 88 patients with the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease Setting: Outpatient Memory Disorder Institute of a large community teaching hospital. Measurements: MMSE score and two different clock drawing ratings. The MMSE and the clock drawing scoring were performed by different raters. We present a “simple clock scoring system” and compared it with a previously published scoring system by Sunderland et al,2 referred to as the standard score system. Results: There is a strong correlation between the “new score system” and the standard scoring (Pearsons Correlation Coefficient r = 0.91, p < 0.001). However, when both systems were evaluated in a multivariate linear regression analysis, the “ simple score system “ was a significant predictor of Folstein MMSE (P < 0.01), while the standard scoring system was not. Conclusion: The “simple score system” is an easy to use, accurate predictor of the MMSE score, in patients with the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.

A prospective study concerning the driving ability of 41 patients with the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) was performed. Using a simulated driving test we evaluated the predictive value of the MMSE,'4ADL,5-7and IADL&9to determine the ability of a person with Alzheimer's disease to drive. All patients were driving at the time of the evaluation.There was no correlation between driving performance and functional status evaluated by ADL and IADL. When comparing driving performance with cognitive evaluation by MMSE, a significant number of patients with MMSE c 22failed the test, compared to patients with MMSE > 22 (P = 0.01, Fisher's exact test).No patient with a MMSE < 20 passed the driving test. The authors recommend that health care professionals who are caring for people with Alzheimer's disease with a MMSE of22 or less should request a driving evaluation.

In response to health care professionals' and family members desire to understand the many facets of Alzheimer's disease, we produced the C-ADAT (Caregivers-Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Tool). It is an understandable table, which incorporates cognitive, functional, behavioral, prognostic and therapeutic information on patients with Alzheimer's disease. C-ADAT is a table that can be a great asset for the geriatric team and caregivers to comprehend the nature and progression of Alzheimer's disease.