ABSTRACT
The Cortical Function Assessment (CFA) is a 10-point test developed to overcome the limitations of current bedside mental status exams which emphasize orientation and memory. Items measure higher cortical function, such as naming, writing, drawing, and stereognosis. The test was given to young and old normal subjects, young and old depressive patients, and patients with dementia. Interrater reliability was high (alpha = .95) as was the correlation between it and the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (r = .87) and the Mini-Mental State (r = .92). The study demonstrates the utility of the CFA as a screening tool in dementia and depression in the elderly and suggests its use in routine geriatric evaluations.
Subject(s)
Cerebral Cortex/physiopathology , Dementia/physiopathology , Depressive Disorder/physiopathology , Neuropsychological Tests , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Alzheimer Disease/diagnosis , Alzheimer Disease/physiopathology , Alzheimer Disease/psychology , Attention/physiology , Delirium/diagnosis , Delirium/physiopathology , Delirium/psychology , Dementia/diagnosis , Dementia/psychology , Depressive Disorder/diagnosis , Depressive Disorder/psychology , Diagnosis, Differential , Dominance, Cerebral/physiology , Female , Higher Nervous Activity/physiology , Humans , Male , Mental Recall/physiology , Middle Aged , Parkinson Disease/diagnosis , Parkinson Disease/physiopathology , Parkinson Disease/psychology , Psychomotor Performance/physiology , Reference ValuesABSTRACT
In a double-blind, long-term follow-up study, 117 bipolar patients received lithium carbonate, imipramine hydrochloride, or both and 150 unipolar patients received lithium carbonate, imipramine, both lithium carbonate and imipramine, or placebo. With bipolar patients, lithium carbonate and the combination treatment were superior to imipramine in preventing manic recurrences and were as effective as imipramine in preventing manic recurrences and were as effective as imipramine in preventing depressive episodes. The combination treatment provided no advantage over lithium carbonate alone. With unipolar patients, imipramine and the combination treatment were more effective than lithium carbonate and placebo in preventing depressive recurrences. The combination treatment provided no advantage over imipramine alone. The lithium carbonate-treated group had fewer manic episodes than the other groups. Treatment outcome, which was evaluated primarily in terms of the occurrence of major depression or manic episodes, was significantly related to characteristics of the index episode, ie, the episode that brought the patient into the study.
