This article reviews the results of an exploratory study on the relationship between the ratings of bradykinesia, obtained by the Schedule for the Assessment of Drug-Induced Movement Disorders (SADIMoD), and the performances on writing and drawing tasks. The pen movements made during these tasks were recorded by means of an electronic digitizing tablet, a special electronic pen and a personal computer. This study was aimed at finding objective parameters for the severity of (antipsychotic-induced) bradykinesia. The results show that the writing tablet device is appropriate at finding movement variables that are related to the clinical ratings for bradykinesia: high scores for bradykinesia involved slowing on a number of duration measures during the execution of the writing and drawing tasks. We were also able to measure (postural) tremor by means of the writing tablet. However, an accelerometer seems to be more appropriate in this respect.
