In-office mental status testing: a practical guide.

Elderly patients with dementia often first come to the attention of their primary medical care providers. Evaluation of cognitive functioning is an important part of the diagnostic work-up, since dementia is a disorder defined by problems of mental or cognitive abilities. Mental status examination in the physician's office can provide diagnostically valuable information and prove useful for determining the need for referral for formal neuropsychological testing. This article briefly describes the cognitive changes associated with dementia and explains proper administration and interpretation of the Mini-Mental State Examination, a quantitative screening test of cognitive function.