Mental Status

• Oriented:
  • aware of person, place, time, season
• Inattention:
  • difficult in focusing attention
  • easily distracted
  • difficulty in following conversation
• Disorganized Thinking:
  • incoherent, rambling, irrelevant
  • unclear, illogical flow of ideas
• Altered Level of Consciousness (LOC):
  • vigilant – startled easily
  • lethargic – repeatedly dozes off but responds to touch or voice
  • stuporous – very difficult to arouse
  • comatose – cannot be aroused
• Psychomotor Retardation:
  • unusually decreased level of activity
  • sluggish
  • staring into space
  • sitting/lying in one position

Cognitive Skills for Daily Decision-Making

• Independent:
  • decisions consistent and reasonable
• Modified Independence:
  • some difficulty in new situations only
• Moderately Impaired:
  • decisions poor
  • cues and/or supervision required
• Severely Impaired:
  • never or rarely makes decisions