The effect of anxiety on a Clock Completion Test (CCT) in elderly patients in a geriatric rehabilitative unit preliminary study

The aim of this study is to examine whether or not there is a correlation between reactive anxiety and cognitive ability, as expressed in a Clock Completion Test (CCT), in patients in a geriatric rehabilitative unit. The research tools included demographic and medical questionnaires, State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Depression Adjective Check List (DACL), Clock Completion Test (CCT) and the Self-Anchoring Striving Well-Being Scale, which were performed at four points in time on 21 subjects (5 men, 16 women) between the ages of 66-95. The study results indicate a significant and positive correlation between depressive symptoms and reactive anxiety at the time of admission and discharge. A significant negative correlation between the STAI-S and the CCT was indicated at the time of discharge in those cases in which the CCT was well performed. This correlation was significant only when the level of depressive symptoms and anxiety decreased at discharge and in comparison with those seen at time of admission. Hence, a preferable time for performing the CCT cannot be determined.