Study of cognitive functioning in a medical population

Sixty-five patients consecutively admitted to a general medical ward have been examined with a specially designed battery of psychological tests and psychiatric rating scales in order to study the prevalence and obtain orientational norms for the assessment of impairment of cognitive function in a medical ward population. None was considered to have a clinical brain syndrome, and the patients as a group performed at levels not grossly different from those to be expected from a healthy population. There were, however, two differences: the average patient scores were slightly lower and their variability greater than is found in the general population. Also, three patients had pathological scores on several subtests of the battery which suggests the presence of selective rather than global cognitive impairment. The validity of the findings has been discussed with reference to the relevant literature. It is concluded that the incidence of gross cognitive impairment in a random medical ward population is probably lower than is usually predicted. The obtained norms can serve as a basis for comparison for further studies of patients with specific pathology.