Brief assessment of cognitive impairment in patients with stroke.

The Stroke Unit Mental Status Examination (SUMSE) has been developed to provide a reliable poststroke test of cognitive functioning that may be administered at bedside. SUMSE was designed to assess major cognitive disorders caused by stroke (eg, language disorders, visuoperceptual deficits, and memory disorders) while avoiding, as much as possible, reliance on patients' English language skills and motor movements. SUMSE's reliability and validity were evaluated by administering it to patients on a stroke rehabilitation unit in conjunction with already validated tests. The results indicated that SUMSE has the potential to become a useful tool for the bedside assessment of mental impairment in stroke patients.