a.    Level of consciousness: coma to alert wakefulness
            (Glasgow Coma Scale).

    b.    General appearance: body habitus; hygiene;
            cosmesis; dress.

    c.    Attitude: degree of cooperation and effort.

2. Motor Behavior and Affect:

    a.    Motor behavior: akinesia; involuntary movements;
            mannerisms.

    b.    Affect: facial expression; gestures; speech
            characteristics; pressure, volume, prosody.

3. Cognitive Status:

    a.    Attention:

            • Attention span: digit span; number of trials
                required to learn 4 words.

            • Concentration and vigilance: serial subtraction;
                letter cancellation tasks; months of year
                backwards.

    b.    Orientation: to person; place; time.

    c.    Language:

            • Fluency: spontaneous speech; description of picture.

            • Comprehension: of spoken or written language;
                performing commands of graded complexity;
                response to "yes/no" questions; pointing to
                names or described items.

            • Repetition: sentences of graded difficulty;
                isolated words; letters; numbers.

            • Naming: objects and parts of objects to visual
                confrontation (or on tactile presentation).

            • Reading: aloud vs for comprehension; paragraph;
                sentence; words; letters; numbers.

            • Writing: written description of picture; write
                name and address; write from dictation;
                copy a written phrase, word, or letter.

            • Spelling: words of graded difficulty.

    d.    Memory:

            • Verbal memory: 4 unrelated words recalled
                after 5 minutes; recall of short story or
                paired words.

            • Visual memory: reproduction of figures;
                recall of where examiner hides object.

    e.    Constructional ability: reproducing figures
            from memory; copying figures;
            constructing blocks or token designs.

    f.    Calculations: addition, subtraction,
            multiplication, and division.

    g.    Reasoning:

             • Practical judgment.

           • Abstraction: Similarities and Proverb
                interpretation.

4. Thought:

    a.    Process; coherence; goal directedness;
            logicality.

    b.    Content: hallucinations; delusions; preoccupations;
            suicidal or homicidal ideation.

    c.    Insight: nature of illness and awareness of factors
            that affect the course of the illness

5. Mood:

    a.    Relation to affect and congruence with thought
            content.
 
 

(Adapted from The Mental Status Examination, Jonathan
Mueller, MD, Ralph J. Kiernan, Ph.D., & J. W. Langston,
MD, p. 202, Chapter 18.)