Assessment of Cognition and the Neurologic System
A 63-year-old woman comes to your office because she’s been forgetting thingsa young mother comes in concerned because her baby fails to make eye contact and is unresponsive to toucha teenager comes in and a parent complains that the teen obsessively washes his hands.
An array of neurological conditions could be causing the above symptoms. When assessing the neurologic system, it is vital to formulate an accurate diagnosis as early as possible to prevent continued damage and deterioration of a patient’s quality of life.
This week, you will explore methods for assessing the cognition and the neurologic system.
Required Reading
Ball, J. W., Dains, J. E., Flynn, J. A., Solomon, B. S., & Stewart, R. W. (2019). Seidel’s guide to physical examination: An interprofessional approach (9th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.
- Chapter 7, Mental Status
This chapter revolves around the mental status evaluation of an individuals overall cognitive state. The chapter includes a list of mental abnormalities and their symptoms.
- Chapter 23, Neurologic System
The authors of this chapter explore the anatomy and physiology of the neurologic system. The authors also describe neurological examinations and potential findings.
Dains, J. E., Baumann, L. C., & Scheibel, P. (2019). Advanced health assessment and clinical diagnosis in primary care (6th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.
Credit Line: Advanced Health Assessment and Clinical Diagnosis in Primary Care, 6th Edition by Dains, J.E., Baumann, L. C., & Scheibel, P. Copyright 2019 by Mosby. Reprinted by permission of Mosby via the Copyright Clearance Center.
The Case Study Assignment
Use the Episodic/Focused SOAP Template and create an episodic/focused note about the patient in the case study to which you were assigned using the episodic/focused note template provided in the Week 5 resources. Provide evidence from the literature to support diagnostic tests that would be appropriate for each case. List five different possible conditions for the patient’s differential diagnosis, and justify why you selected each.
CASE STUDY
A 70-year-old female comes to your clinic with complaints of forgetfulness. She noticed it about a year ago and it has progressively gotten worse. She sometimes forgets what she is going to do when she gets to another room. Her family has noticed the problem with her forgetfulness but she is still able to manage her finances and drive, per her report.
