Cognitive assessment tools for adults PDF

If you work with older individuals, you may find some of these cognitive assessment tools to be useful. In general, you can quickly use these tools to determine if someone requires further assessment, but you may find the results sufficient for your purpose. Check out the comments for many more assessment tools!

Free DIRECT download: 18 assessment tools for cognition (cheat sheet). (Email subscribers get free access to all the resources in the Free Subscription Library.)

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To the best of my knowledge it is fine to use these tools as long as you don’t modify the tool itself. I’ve made a careful effort to be sure that citations are included with each PDF. But if you have any concerns, try contacting the authors or publisher.

A quick word about user requirements. I don’t know if this is true for you as well, but in the past, I sometimes began using a new tool without reading about it. There are two commonly-used tests in particular that have user requirements that I didn’t know about until recently: the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the . 

The MoCA now requires paid training and certification, mandatory as of 9/1/19. And the SLUMS requires free yearly video training.

Who uses these tools?

Most of these tools are meant to be used by trained health professionals. It is our responsibility to learn how to administer the tool and interpret the results. Some tools are designed to be taken by anyone, and I’ll point those out.

As always, if you have any concerns about your health or the health of a loved one, you should seek guidance from your doctor or seek an evaluation by a speech-language pathologist (SLP). Remember that these tools do not diagnose dementia or any other cognitive impairment.

Free cognitive assessment tools

BCAT Self-Assessment Tools

BCAT® Self-Assessment Tools Three self-quizzes anyone can take if they are concerned about cognition (thinking), driving, or using power wheelchairs. The score they receive indicates whether they should seek further help.

BCRS, FAST, and GDS

The Brief Cognitive Rating Scale (BCRS) and the Functional Assessment Staging (FAST) are designed to be used with the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) to determine the stage of dementia that a person is in.

Barry Reisberg and colleagues designed these scales for use with people with primary degenerative dementia. You can use them to assist with ensuring that a person is living as independently as they are able, while planning for future needs.

Brief Evaluation of Executive Function

The Brief Evaluation of Executive Function consists of:

  • Controlled Oral Word Association Test.
  • Royall’s CLOX Clock Drawing task.
  • The Trail Making Test Part B, Oral Version.

The Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing, New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing explains these tasks and the rationales for each in the PDF. See their website for other tools in their Try This: ®Series.

Dementia Severity Rating Scale

The Dementia Severity Rating Scale was developed by Clark & Webank (1996) and updated by Webank et al (2009). You can administer this multiple-choice questionnaire to determine whether a person has a mild, moderate, or severe impairment. In addition, it can be used to predict rate of decline over time.

Functional Activities Questionnaire

The Functional Activities Questionnaire asks someone familiar with the individual to rate that person’s ability to handle 10 common activities. The resulting score indicates whether the person should seek further help. Pfeffer and colleagues developed the questionnaire in 1982. The Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing, New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing published the PDF.

IQCODE

Anthony Jorm and colleagues published the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE) in 1991. Anyone familiar with the individual can fill the questionnaire out.

The form asks you to compare the individual’s abilities today with how they were 10 years ago. You indicate how much the person has improved or worsened in 16 different areas, and the resulting score determines whether the person should seek further help.

Lawton-Brody IADL

You can use the Lawton-Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale (IADL) with older adults in the community or in a hospital setting. The purpose is to establish a baseline of ability to perform daily activities and to document any decline over time.

You rate the patient or client in eight different activities: ability to use the phone, shopping, food preparation, housekeeping, laundry, transportation, medication management, and handling finances.

The scale was published in 1969 by MP Lawton and EM Brody.  The attached PDF was published by The Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing, New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing.

Mini MoCA Self Screen

BONUS: The Mini Self MoCA will be released soon. People who are concerned about their memory will be able to take this test and share the results with their doctor.

Neuro-QoL

Neuro-QoL is a great resource hosted by Northwestern University with many assessment tools to “quantify the physical, mental, and social effects experienced by adults and children living with neurological conditions.”

The print versions are free, while the computer based tools have a subscription fee.

To find free tools, use their “search & view measures” tool. For instance, if you select “cognition” as the domain and “fixed length short form” as the measure type, you will find 10 entries.

To obtain the form, click on the name and then click on the desired version under “View Measure.” Here you’ll find English and Spanish versions of the Neuro-QoL Short Form v2.0 and the scoring guide in three separate files. Published by the National Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).

SAGE

The Self-Administered Gerocognitive Exam (SAGE) is a test that anyone can complete and take to their doctor. Douglas Scharre developed it at Ohio State University Medical Center.

Short Blessed Test

The Short Blessed Test (also known as the Orientation-Memory-Concentration Test) is a sensitive screening tool used to detect cognitive impairment in older people in the community, in nursing homes, and in hospital settings. R. Katzman and colleagues developed it in 1983.

SLUMS

The Saint Louis University Mental Status Examination (SLUMS) is a valid, standardized tool used by a qualified health provider to “screen individuals to look for the presence of cognitive deficits, and to identify changes in cognition over time.” According to the Saint Louis University website, these professionals should complete the free video training on a yearly basis.

Iowa Trail Making Test

The Iowa Trail Making Test (TMT) assesses “visual search, scanning, speed of processing, mental flexibility, and executive functions.”

There are two parts. In the first part, the patient draws a line to connect numbered circles as quickly as they can. In the second task, they connect numbers and letters, starting with 1 and then A and then alternating between numbers and letters in ascending order, as fast as they can.

You can find norms for ages 18 to 89 for different education levels. The TMT has been around for quite a long time. A research article published in 1958 by Ralph Reitan cites three earlier studies and provided preliminary norms.

  • How to plan cognitive therapy with 6 questions.
  • How to assess pragmatic skills in adults with brain injury.
  • 3 versions of the Clock Drawing Test for cognition.
  • Collaborative goal setting to identify meaningful cognitive goals.
  • Single-use cognitive evaluation folders.

Comment on other tools you know

I hope you’ll find these cognitive assessment tools useful. If you know of any other free resources for assessing cognitive or cognitive-communication skills in particular, please comment below. Please share this post with your SLP friends and colleagues.

Free DIRECT download: 18 assessment tools for cognition (cheat sheet). (Email subscribers get free access to all the resources in the Free Subscription Library.)

Cognitive assessment tools for adults PDF

Lisa A Young M.A. CCC-SLP

Website |+ posts

Lisa earned her M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Maryland, College Park and her M.A. in Linguistics from the University of California, San Diego.

She participated in research studies with the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) and the University of Maryland in the areas of aphasia, Parkinson’s Disease, epilepsy, and fluency disorders.

Lisa has more than thirteen years experience as a medical speech-language pathologist. She has a strong passion for evidence-based assessment and therapy, having earned four ASHA Awards for Professional Participation in Continuing Education.

She launched EatSpeakThink.com in June 2018 to help other clinicians be more successful working in home health, as well as to provide strategies and resources to people living with problems eating, speaking, or thinking.

What are 4 common cognitive assessment tools?

Functional Activities Questionnaire. IQCODE. Lawton-Brody IADL. Mini MoCA Self Screen.

What is the most widely used cognitive assessment tool?

Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) This test is currently the most widely used cognitive assessment tool.

What are the various tools of cognitive assessment?

Cognitive Evaluation.
Mini-Cog™ The Mini-Cog™ is an instrument for assessing cognitive impairment. ... .
Geriatric Depression Scale. The Geriatric Depression Scale is brief survey instrument that can be used to initially assess depression in older adults. ... .
Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).

What is the 30 question cognitive test?

he Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) or Folstein test is a 30-point questionnaire that is used extensively in clinical and research settings to measure cognitive impairment. It is commonly used in medicine and allied health to screen for dementia.