CH 5 Mental Status Assessment

Question 1

Mental Disorder (organic vs psychiatric)

Answer 1

Organic - actual brain disease of known specific cause

Psychiatric - cannot initially establish etiology (cause of disease)

Question 2

How to Conclude Mental Status (10 methods)

Answer 2

1. Consciousness (awareness of existence and environment)
2. Language (how they communicate their thoughts and feelings)
3. Affect (temporary; visible reaction towards events) & Mood (prolonged; underlying emotional state)
4. Orientation (alert? orientation to person, place, time, situation?)
5. Attention (ability to focus/concentrate)
6. Memory
   
   • Recent memory (short-term)
   • Remote memory (long-term)
7. Abstract Reasoning (deeper meaning beyond concrete & literal)
8. Thought Process (how they put piece of info together)
9. Thought Content (their actual ideas and beliefs)
10. Perception (their own awareness of info they give you and receive from you)

Question 3

Mental Status Examinations

Answer 3

A (appearance)
B (behavior)
C (cognition)
T (thought process)

Question 4

Supplemental Mental Status Examinations

Answer 4

Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE)

 - test of cognitive function of mental status examination
 - patient must be able to write and have no vision impairment
 - lacks sensitivity for mild cognitive impairment

Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)
- examines more cognitive domains than MMSE and is more sensitive to mild cognitive impairment