Deck 5: Mental Status

Question 1

Assessing orientation to person, place, and time helps determine:

A) ability to understand analogies.
B) abstract reasoning.
C) attention span.
D) state of consciousness.

Answer 1

state of consciousness.

Question 2

The Glasgow Coma Scale is used to:

A) determine the cause of decreased consciousness.
B) diagnose disorders that alter level of consciousness.
C) quantify consciousness.
D) predict response to stimulant medications.

Answer 2

quantify consciousness.

Question 3

The ability for abstract thinking normally develops during:

A) infancy.
B) early childhood.
C) adolescence.
D) adulthood.

Answer 3

adolescence.

Question 4

You ask the patient to follow a series of short commands to assess:

A) judgment.
B) attention span.
C) arithmetic calculations.
D) abstract reasoning.

Question 5

Mr. DeLaurentis is a 58-year-old man who presents to your office with slumped posture and a lack of facial expression, which may indicate depression or:

A) Parkinson disease.
B) anxiety.
C) loss of abstract reasoning.
D) attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Question 6

Recent memory may be tested by:

A) asking the patient to name the past four presidents.
B) asking the patient to listen to and repeat a series of numbers.
C) showing the patient four items and asking him or her to list the items about 10 minutes later.
D) asking the patient about verifiable information, such as his or her mother's maiden name.

Question 7

Flight of ideas or loosening of associations is associated with:

A) aphasia.
B) dysphonia.
C) multiple sclerosis.
D) psychiatric disorders.

Question 8

Loss of immediate and recent memory with retention of remote memory suggests:

A) attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
B) impaired judgment.
C) stupor.
D) dementia.

Question 9

When the Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test is administered to a child, the evaluator principally observes the:

A) presence and form of body parts.
B) gender and race of the person drawn.
C) approximate age and posture of the person drawn.
D) length of time needed to draw a stick man.

Question 10

Facial muscle or tongue weakness may result in:

A) aphasia.
B) impaired comprehension.
C) neologisms.
D) echolalia.

Question 11

Which of these observations would be most significant when assessing the condition of a patient who has judgment impairment?

A) Repeated failure to complete work obligations
B) Forgetting family members' birth dates
C) Going to church three times a week
D) Planning for retirement in 20 years

Question 12

Appropriateness of logic, sequence, cohesion, and relevance to topics are markers for the assessment of:

A) mood and feelings.
B) attention span.
C) thought process and content.
D) abstract reasoning.

Question 13

Impairment of arithmetic skills is often the result of:

A) impaired execution of motor skills.
B) impaired judgment.
C) perceptual distortions.
D) depression.

Question 14

Which type of hallucination is most commonly associated with alcohol withdrawal?

A) Olfactory
B) Visual
C) Auditory
D) Tactile

Question 15

The Denver II is a tool used to determine:

A) a child's IQ.
B) a child's mood.
C) whether a child is educable.
D) whether a child is developing as expected.

Question 16

When you ask the patient to tell you the meaning of a proverb or metaphor, you are assessing which of the following?

A) Level of consciousness
B) Abstract reasoning
C) Emotional stability
D) Memory

Question 17

The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) may be used to:

A) estimate cognitive changes quantitatively.
B) estimate personality disorders qualitatively.
C) diagnose neurologic disorders.
D) determine the cause of memory loss.

Question 18

When is the mental status portion of the neurologic system examination performed?

A) During the history-taking process
B) During assessment of cranial nerves and deep tendon reflexes
C) During the time when questions related to memory are asked
D) Continually, throughout the entire interaction with a patient

Question 19

A 69-year-old truck driver presents with a sudden loss of the ability to understand spoken language. This indicates a lesion in the:

A) temporal lobe.
B) Broca area.
C) frontal cortex.
D) cerebellum.

Question 20

Peripheral neuropathy is most likely to be manifested by:

A) impaired memory.
B) impaired abstract reasoning.
C) impaired writing ability.
D) hallucinations.

Question 21

Which condition is considered progressive rather than reversible?

A) Delirium
B) Dementia
C) Depression
D) Anxiety

Question 22

You are interviewing a 20-year-old patient with a new-onset psychotic disorder. The patient is apathetic and has disturbed thoughts and language patterns. The nurse recognizes this behavior pattern as consistent with a diagnosis of:

A) depression.
B) autistic disorder.
C) mania.
D) schizophrenia.

Question 23

The examiner should be concerned about neurologic competence if a social smile cannot be elicited by the time a child is _________ old.

Question 24

Under most conditions, adult patients should be able to repeat a series of _____________ numbers.

Question 25

Mrs. Griffiths, a 28-year-old patient, presents to your office to discuss her attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Which statement is true in regard to ADHD?

A) It occurs before 7 years of age.
B) It is usually related to mental retardation.
C) It is usually related to dementia.
D) It is manifested by prolonged periods of catatonic behavior.

Question 26

The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) should be administered for the patient who:

A) gets lost in her neighborhood.
B) sleeps an excessive amount of time.
C) has repetitive ritualistic behaviors.
D) uses illegal hallucinogenic drugs.

Question 27

An older adult is administered the Set Test and scores a 14. The nurse interprets this score as indicative of:

A) depression.
B) cognitive impairment.
C) delirium.
D) dementia.

Question 28

An aversion to touch or being held, along with delayed or absent language development, is characteristic of:

A) attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
B) autism.
C) dementia.
D) mental retardation.

Question 29

A clinical syndrome of failing memory and impairment of other intellectual functions, usually related to obvious structural diseases of the brain, describes:

A) delirium.
B) dementia.
C) depression.
D) anxiety.

Question 30

Which of the following are signs and symptoms of dementia?

A) Aphasia
B) Apathy
C) Odd behaviors
D) Disintegration of personality
E) Lack of awareness of others

Question 31

While interviewing a patient, you ask him to explain the "Lion and the Mouse" to assess:

A) reading comprehension.
B) attention span.
C) mood and feeling.
D) reasoning skills.

Question 32

The patient who is delirious usually maintains orientation to:

A) time.
B) place.
C) person.
D) circumstance.

Question 33

Which of the following clinical assessments will test attention span?

A) Spell WORLD backward.
B) Draw a clock.
C) Say the days of the week.
D) Do arithmetic calculations.
E) Explain "a stitch in time saves nine."