THE ASSESSMENT OF THE MENTAL STATE OF ELDERLY HOSPITAL PATIENTS USING A SIMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE
BERNARD ISAACS M.D., and
FRANK A. WALKEY M.B.1
1 Foresthall Hospital, Glasgow, N. 1., Scotland.
This preliminary evaluation indicated that a simple questionnaire, which was independent of educational and cultural background, would give a useful quantitative assessment of intellectual impairment in elderly hospitalized patients; and certain features of the population studied could be characterized in terms of test performance. The test has been incorporated in a short battery which is yielding information on such matters as the relation between mental impairment of geriatric patients and their survival in hospital.
