Validity of the Boston qualitative scoring system for the Rey-Osterrieth complex figure among depressed elderly patients.

A recent qualitative scoring method for the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF), the Boston Qualitative Scoring System (BQSS), purports to assess visuospatial organization, visual memory and executive function by using multiple series of scores with well-defined criteria. The first objective of this study was to determine whether the BQSS cores correlated with scores derived from the tradition Osterrieth scoring method and which method was more efficient at separating the diagnostics groups. The second objective was to correlate the BQSS executive scores to other nonverbal and verbal tests of executive function, working memory, processing speed, and episodic memory to determine what cognitive abilities the BQSS scores were measuring. The subjects, older depressed patients and healthy controls, were free of any clinical sign of incipient dementia or comorbid neurological disease. Their ROCF drawings were scored using both the Osterrieth and BQSS methods. The BQSS summary drawing scores correlated well with the Osterrieth summary scores for the copy and short-delay recall phases, the percent retained over the delay period and recognition. The BQSS executive scores for Planning, which included both copy and recall phases, correlated with Matrix Reasoning indicating that they assessed nonverbal reasoning but they did not correlate with other traditional executive tests. Planning also contributed to the separation of diagnostics groups and was the most effective score for predicting the percent of the ROCF retained over a short delay. The remaining executive scores did not show a pattern of correlations with other nonverbal executive or working memory scores that would satisfy concerns regarding their interpretation or internal validity when used in an older and/or depressed population. No differences emerged between the two scoring methods in their efficiency for predicting depression.