The Benson Complex Figure Test: Normative Data for the Healthy Iranian Population

Visual-related abilities such as visual memory and visuo-constructional skills are among the cognitive abilities with fundamental importance for normal cognitive function, and its impairment is manifested in many neurological and psychiatric disorders. The present study aimed to generate normative data for the Benson Complex Figure Test (BCFT), a well-known simplified version of the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test, in Iran and to assess the effect of demographic variables of age, gender, and education on its various measures.

The present study was conducted in 2017-2018 as part of the Iranian Brain Imaging Database (IBID) project. The study sample consisted of 300 normal individuals in the age range of 20 to 70 years, with an equal number of participants and an equal proportion of genders in each age decade (# 60). Independent and dependent variables, respectively, were age (classified by five decades including 20-30 year olds, 31-40 year olds, 41-50 year olds, 51-60 year olds, and 61-70 year olds) and performance in the BCFT (defined in terms of 3 scores on copy, recall, and recognition of the geometric figure and 2 scores on time of copy and recall).

The correlation matrix among the variables showed that age and education has a significant correlation with most the BCFT scores, while gender only has a significant correlation with recognition score. Multivariate analysis of variance showed the effect of age, gender, and their interaction on scores, while education did not make a significant difference in the BCFT scores. Also, the t-test showed a significant difference between men and women in recall and recognition, so that women and men showed better  performance in recall and recognition, respectively.

In summary, our results suggest that demographic variables of age, gender, and education affect visual memory and visuospatial abilities, and it is essential to generate normative data for research or clinical settings.