Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-g4j75 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-08T17:01:46.207Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Differences in Cognitive Status between Healthy, Psychiatrically Ill, and Diffusely Brain-damaged Elderly Subjects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Donald C. Kendrick  and
F. Post
Donald C. Kendrick
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, Maudsley Hospital, London, S.E.5
F. Post
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, Maudsley Hospital, London, S.E.5
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

It has recently been pointed out by several authors that the psychometric assessment of the elderly patient has largely been geared to, or preoccupied with, the solution of diagnostic problems, measuring deterioration or discovering early dementia (Post, 1966; Inglis, 1962). Therefore, it appears that little attention has been paid to the use of psychometric tests in the broad area of prognosis. Often the psychiatric diagnosis of an elderly patient is quite clear, and in these circumstances it would be valuable to be able to discern reliable and significant changes in the cognitive status of such patients. For example, it may well prove quite significant, prognostically, to measure the rate of change in cognition of an elderly person suffering from a progressive cerebral disease. The rate of decline could be a prognostic indicator for the future disposal of the patient or for impending death. A variety of studies have shown that scores on measures of physical and cognitive abilities can predict death or discharge from hospital (Cosin et al., 1957; Inglis, 1959; Kleemeier, 1961; Kral, 1963). In the case of patients suffering from depressive “pseudo-dementia” (Post, 1965) it will probably be valuable to know if their cognitive status reflects changes in their clinical status. But probably the most important aspect of the psychometric assessment of the geriatric patient will be found to lie in measuring changes in function which may be the sequelae of treatment affecting brain function in general, i.e. anti-depressant preparations and electroconvulsive therapy.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 113 , Issue 494 , January 1967 , pp. 75 - 81
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1967 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Birren, J. E. (Ed.) (1963). Human Ageing: A Biological and Behavioural Study. Public Health Service Publication No. 906.Google Scholar
Campbell, D. (1960). “The psychological effects of cerebral electro-shock.” In: Handbook of Abnormal Psychology. Ed. Eysenck, , Pitman Med. Pub. Co. Ltd. Google Scholar
Cosin, L. Z., Mort, Margaret, Post, F., Westrop, , Celia, , and Williams, Moyra. (1957). “Persistent senile confusion: study of 50 consecutive cases.” In: Internat. J. soc. Psychiat., 3, 195–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, R. B., and Marmorison, J. (1964). “Scoring Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices to differentiate brain damage.” J. clin. Psychol., 20, 360–364.3.0.CO;2-E>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greenhouse, S. W., and Geiser, S. (1959). “On methods in the analysis of profile data.” Psychometrica, 4, 95–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inglis, J. (1959). “The prognostic value of the modified word learning test in psychiatric patients over 65.” J. ment. Sci., 105, 1100–1101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inglis, J. (1962). “Psychological practice in geriatric problems.” Ibid., 108, 669–674.Google ScholarPubMed
Jarvik, L. F., and Falek, A. (1963). “Intellectual stability and survival in the aged.” J. Geront., 18, 173–176.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendrick, D. C. (1964). “The assessment of pre-morbid level of intelligence in elderly patients suffering from diffuse brain pathology.” Psych. Rep., 15, 188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kendrick, D. C. (1965). “Speed and learning in the diagnosis of diffuse brain damage in elderly subjects: a Bayesian statistical approach.” Brit. J. soc. clin. Psychol., 4, 141–148.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendrick, D. C., Parboosingh, , Rose-Cecile, , and Post, F. (1965). “A synonym learning test for use with elderly psychiatric subjects: a validation study.” Ibid., 4, 63–71.Google ScholarPubMed
Kleemeier, R. W. (1961). “Intellectual changes in the senium, or death and the IQ.” Presidential address, Division on Maturity and Old Age, Am. Psychol. Assoc., N.Y.Google Scholar
Kral, V. A. (1963). “Senescent memory impairment and its relation to the general health of the ageing individual.” Presented at 6th Intern. Congr. Gerontol., Copenhagen.Google Scholar
Meer, B., and Baker, , Janet, (1965). “Reliability of measurements of intellectual functioning of geriatric patients.” J. Geront., 20, 410–414.Google Scholar
Post, F. (1965). The Clinical Psychiatry of Late Life. Pergamon Press: Oxford.Google Scholar
Post, F. (1966). “Somatic and psychic factors in the treatment of elderly psychiatric subjects.” J. psychomat. Res., 10, 13–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riegal, K. F., Riegal, R. M., and Meyers, G. (1963). “The prediction of intellectual development and death: a longitudinal analysis.” Presented at 6th Intern. Congr. Gerontol., Copenhagen.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.