Original Editor -Safiya Naz Top Contributors - Safiya Naz and Areeba Raja Show The Mini-Cog is a neuropsychological test that has been shown to be beneficial in detecting dementia sufferers. Although its sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing cognitive impairment vary by region and way of interpretation, it has been proven to have good sensitivity and specificity. Memory complaints and illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease and other form of dementia are becoming more widespread as a result of the growing number of older persons.[1] The Mini Cog is a short cognitive impairment screening exam. Mini-Cog, with excellent screening characteristics and spending less time, could be considered to be used as a screening tool among communities to help to diagnose dementia early[2] It combines a short memory test with a simple clock-drawing test to enable for fast screening for short-term memory problems, learning disabilities, and other cognitive functions that are reduced in dementia patients. [3] Technique[edit | edit source]
Steps[edit | edit source]
Scoring[edit | edit source]Recall: The recall test is graded on a scale of 0 to 3.After the CDT distracter, a score was given for each recalled word. Clock Drawing Test (CDT): The CDT test presents a score of 0 or 2.A typical CDT is worth two points. A CDT that is irregular earns 0 points. All numbers must be presented in the exact sequence and position for a regular CDT, and the hands must indicate the requested time readably. Mini-Cog Score: Add the recall and CDT scores to get the mini-cog score. A score of 0-2 indicates a positive dementia screen. A score of 3-5 indicates a negative dementia screening. [4] [5] Validity[edit | edit source]The Mini-Cog has a sensitivity of 76-99 percent and a specificity of 89-93 percent with a 95 percent confidence interval. The chi square test revealed that Alzheimer's dementia had a score of 234.4, while other dementias had a score of 118.3. (p0.001).This tool has a strong predictive value in a range of health settings.[6] Resources[edit | edit source]References[edit | edit source]
Although it is unrealistic to routinely perform a comprehensive mental status examination (MSE) in a single primary care office visit, incorporating key components of a formal MSE when the physician senses that something is “not quite right” with the patient can help the physician identify psychiatric illnesses, follow up as needed for more extensive evaluation, and make referrals when necessary. The examination can also help distinguish mood disorders, thought disorders, and cognitive impairment.1,2 Key components of the MSE are summarized in Table 1.1-4
Appearance and General Behavior
The MSE begins when the physician first encounters and observes the patient. How the patient interacts with the physician and the environment may reveal underlying psychiatric disturbances or clues signifying the patient's emotional and mental state. Collaborative observations from office staff may also be useful.1 If the physician has known the patient for some time, it may be helpful to acknowledge and document any changes that have occurred over time that may correlate with changes in mental health. Important observations of appearance may include the disheveled appearance of a patient with schizophrenia, the self-neglect of a patient with depression, or the provocative style of a patient with mania.
Observations of motor activity include body posture; general body movement; facial expressions; gait; level of psychomotor activity; gestures; and the presence of dyskinesias, such as tics or tremors.2 Psychomotor retardation (a general slowing of physical and emotional reactions) may signify depression or negative symptoms of schizophrenia.5 Psychomotor agitation may occur with anxiety or mania. Changes in motor activity over time may correlate with progression of the patient's illness, such as increasing bradykinesia with worsening parkinsonism. In addition, changes in motor activity may be related to treatment response (e.g., parkinsonism secondary to an antipsychotic medication).
Observations of speech may include rate, volume, spontaneity, and coherence. Incoherent speech may be caused by dysarthria, poor articulation, or inaudibility.2 The form of speech is more important than the content of speech in this portion of the examination, and may provide clues to associated disorders. For example, patients with mania may speak quickly, whereas patients with depression often speak slowly.
Mood is the patient's internal, subjective emotional state.1 Of note, this is one of the few elements of the MSE that rely on patient self-report in addition to physician observation. It is helpful to ask the patient to report his or her mood over the past few weeks, as opposed to merely asking about the moment. It may also be helpful to determine if mood remains constant over time or varies from visit to visit. Physicians may perform a more objective assessment by asking the patient at each visit to rate mood from 1 to 10 (with 1 being sad, and 10 being happy).
Affect is the physician's objective observation of the patient's expressed emotional state. Often, the patient's affect changes with his or her emotional state and can be determined by facial expressions, as well as interactions. Descriptors of affect may address emotional range (broad or restricted), intensity (blunted, flat, or normal), and stability.1 Affect may or may not be congruent with mood, such as when a patient laughs when talking about the recent death of a family member. Additionally, affect may not be appropriate for a given situation. For example, a patient with delusions of persecution may not seem frightened, as expected. Inappropriateness of affect occurs in some patients with schizophrenia.
Thought process can be used to describe a patient's form of thinking and to characterize how a patient's ideas are expressed during an office visit. Physicians may note the rate of thought (extremely rapid thinking is called flight of ideas) and flow of thought (whether thought is goal-directed or disorganized).2 Additional descriptors include whether thoughts are logical, tangential, circumstantial, and closely or loosely associated. Often, a patient's thought process can be described in relation to a continuum between goal-directed and disconnected thoughts.2 Incoherence of thought process is the lack of coherent connections between thoughts.
Thought content describes what the patient is thinking and includes the presence or absence of delusional or obsessional thinking and suicidal or homicidal ideas. If any of these thoughts are present, details regarding intensity and specificity should be obtained.
More specifically, delusions are fixed, false beliefs that are not in accordance with external reality.3 Delusions can be distinguished from obsessions because persons who experience the latter recognize that the intrusiveness of their thoughts is not normal. Bizarre delusions that occur over a period of time often suggest schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, whereas acute delusions are more consistent with alcohol or drug intoxication.
Hallucinations are perceptual disturbances that occur in the absence of a sensory stimulus. Hallucinations can occur in different sensory systems, including auditory, visual, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, or visceral.2 The content of the hallucination and the sensory system involved should be noted. Hallucinations are symptoms of a schizophrenic disorder, bipolar disorder, severe unipolar depression, acute intoxication, withdrawal from alcohol or illicit drug use, delirium, and dementia. Perceptual disturbances may be difficult to elicit during an office visit because patients may deny having hallucinations. The physician may conclude that hallucinations are present if the patient is responding to internal stimuli as if the patient is hearing somebody speaking to him or her.
The evaluation of a patient's cognitive function is an essential component of the MSE. The assessment of sensorium includes the patient's level and stability of consciousness. A disturbance or fluctuation of consciousness may indicate delirium. Descriptors of a patient's level of consciousness include alert, clouded, somnolent, lethargic, and comatose.
Elements of a patient's cognitive status include attention, concentration, and memory. Table 2 presents assessment tools for these and other elements of cognition. Attention and concentration can be assessed by asking the patient to spell “world” forward and backward, or to subtract serial sevens from 100. Another key element of cognition is the patient's memory. A deeper understanding of memory function and brain systems has served to refine and expand the classification of short- and long-term memory into four memory systems (Table 3).6 In the cognitive portion of the MSE, it is important that questions match the patient's education level and cultural background.
A systematic approach to evaluating for cognitive impairment is helpful. The most commonly used method is the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), which takes five to 10 minutes to administer. The MMSE has been validated and used extensively in practice and in research. In clinical practice, it is usually used to detect cognitive impairment in older patients. The MMSE includes 11 questions that test five areas of cognitive function: orientation, registration, attention and calculation, recall, and language.7 Using the MMSE as a screening instrument has not been supported because the specificity of screening tools is poor despite good sensitivity.8 Table 4 summarizes U.S. Preventive Services Task Force screening recommendations for cognitive impairment and other mental disorders.8,9 However, the MMSE is a useful measure of change in cognitive status over time, as well as potential response to treatment. The test is limited in patients who have visual impairment, are intubated, or have a low literacy level.10
Another tool for assessing cognition is the Mini-Cognitive Assessment Instrument (Mini-Cog), which combines a clock drawing test and a three-word memory test. Advantages of the Mini-Cog include its brevity, its validity irrespective of the patient's education level and language, and its high sensitivity for identifying adults with cognitive impairment.11
Insight is the patient's awareness and understanding of his or her illness and need for treatment. When evaluating a patient's insight, the physician may assess the degree to which the patient understands how the psychiatric illness impacts his or her life, relationship with others, and willingness to change. Evaluating insight is crucial for making a psychiatric diagnosis and for assessing potential adherence to treatment. Compared with patients with other psychiatric disorders, those with schizophrenia are often unaware of their mental illness and often have a poorer response to treatment.12,13 A recent study showed an association between unawareness and executive dysfunction, suggesting that cognitive impairment may be the basis for lack of insight in patients with schizophrenia.14 Patients with dementia may also lack insight, a feature that is particularly characteristic of frontotemporal dementia affecting function and performance.15 Patients in the manic phase of bipolar disorder may demonstrate little insight, whereas patients having a depressive episode may overemphasize problems.3
Judgment, the ability to identify the consequences of actions, can be assessed throughout the MSE,2 by asking “What would you do if you found a stamped envelope on the sidewalk?” Yet, asking more pertinent questions specific to the patient's illness is likely to be more helpful than hypothetical questions. A patient's compliance with prescribed treatments can also serve as a measure of judgment.
Further Evaluation and Referral
Depending on MSE findings, further evaluation may include laboratory testing to identify causative or potentially reversible medical conditions. Additionally, if an underlying brain disorder is suspected, brain imaging (computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging) may be helpful. The primary care physician should consult a psychiatrist, and possibly other mental health professionals, if the diagnosis is uncertain, the patient's safety is in question, the patient is actively psychotic, or treatment response is inadequate. |
Which patient behavior would be assessed when administering the mini-cog screening examination
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