Give them "banana, breakfast, chair".... LOL

My doctor's PA is a very nice 30-something woman. She has a good sense of humor, too. She's also 6'4" tall, which is a real surprise for people who meet her for the first time. She'll laugh if I do that, I'm sure.

Maybe I'll draw the clock at home on a post-it note, too and bring that in with me.

when she gave me the test.

Actually, the clock drawing test is a very good one. It's not really how well you can draw the clock. People with various neurological issues draw it in predictable ways. It's not a bad diagnostic tool, really.

really tempted to draw the clock with roman numerals. Maybe next time.

I will do that next time, just for a lark. I asked last year if I could draw a digital clock with seven-segment numbers. I can do that one, too.

Or ask, AM or PM? and then draw a 24-hour clock.

I do draw the hour hand at the appropriate position for the 10 minutes, though, although I doubt that gets noticed, either.

Last year, the PA asked me why I wrote in 12, 6, 3, and 9 before adding the rest of the numbers. I explained that it was easier to locate them accurately, due the their right angle positions on the clock face.

A guy has to do something to amuse himself in such situations.

That always catches a lot of people off guard who have seen clocks with Roman numerals all their lives, but have never noticed that before..

is "short term memory loss" it might not be advisable to repeat tests from a year or more ago.

I'm just joking, really. They always give you the words before they do something else that is distracting, like drawing that little clock. It's a pretty good short term memory test, really.

I just think it's funny that they use the same three words. It's probably so they don't forget them between telling them to you and your repeating them back.

He can repeat those words at the drop of a MAGA hat.

WITCH HUNT

I would ask IF they remembered my Birth date! Bet they don't.

On the other hand, I've been seeing the same doctor, once a year, for 15 years now. He does remember me, my healthcare issues, and we always have a pleasant conversation during the visit. So far, I'm healthy enough that he doesn't have to do much else.

His PA remembers me too, well enough to roll her eyes at my lame sense of humor.

I fully trust my DR. 15 plus years as well. I have always thought what a stupid test, BUT maybe it does help some patients. I guess i should NOT be so negative about the test. They DO NOT use same 3 words here tho. Always different words.

remember. The thing that irked me with the clock question is that the numbers on most of the clocks manufactured the past 30 or 40 years don't have hands, the time is reflected on the screen. Ask me questions about horses and I will talk facts all day long. Ask me to remember some silly words and I won't. It's not that I can't, it's that I won't. I agreed to do the test once and have refused to do it since. Retirement is liberating in this way.

The clock test can spot a number of neurological problems, not just dementia. The three-word memory test has been in use for a very long time. I first had to take it after being in a coma for two weeks from viral encephalitis in 1991. The doctor was very pleased that I passed it, since it indicated that I had escaped serious brain damage from the disease.

Refusing such tests can hide a developing problem that can be dealt with. They're funny to talk about, but they serve a useful purpose. It's best just to go ahead and do them. If there's a problem, it's better to know about it than not to know.

This thread is humorous, but the tests are serious. Let your doctor do his or her job. Really.

to take them yet -- maybe my doc thinks I'm still too young? He's a proactive younger doc and has me do the other Medicare tests for arm and leg strength, etc.

And you have to remember only three words? Dang.

Yes, I am 51 but all of my life I have had a very hard time reading face clocks partly because of my dyslexia. I told my doctor that I have never done that well but I had to do it anyway. I did not do well at the three words I can not remember them all ( not the same ones as you got. ) I think I got at least one right. I fucking hate my learning disability.

FELOPZD
DEFPOTEC

Get some new eye charts.

A few years ago he started to check my memory and gave me the usual test. The one I really screwed up was to start at 100 and count backwards subtracting 7 each time. I was lost in a short time. So, the next year I practiced it and then he didn't give that one again.

I flunked my test the first year, so I worried for a whole year. The next year I scored one point higher so he said I didn't have Alzheimer's. Scored 3 points higher the next year so he said I don't have dementia. I have mild cognitive impairment.

for most people, I think. I've never had to do that one. I've always thought it was too difficult a cognitive test and that it would often produce erroneous results. Some people just cannot do any arithmetic in their heads, and were never able to.

talk about math anxiety. I don't think I got past the first or second one. then the doctor said to "guess" or "approximate" so I guess at least if you get fairly close they can tell something.

Also spelling WORLD backwards.

Also naming the Presidents in order (starting with the current one down...).

"93 minus 7 is 86." 86 minus seven is 79. " And so on. Forget the idea of counting backward and just subtract seven from the last result. That's easy.