Rehabilitation therapists' recognition of cognitive and mood disorders in geriatric patients.
OBJECTIVE
To determine if physical and occupational therapists can recognize 2 known predictors of rehabilitation outcome, cognition and mood, in their geriatric patients.


METHODS
Survey.


METHODS
Urban academic medical center rehabilitation unit.


METHODS
One hundred two consecutive geriatric admissions rated by 20 physical and 8 occupational therapists for the presence of cognitive or affective disorders.


METHODS
Not applicable.


METHODS
Mini-Mental State Examination, Geriatric Depression Scale, and therapists' ratings.


RESULTS
Both disciplines had low rates of accurate detection of both cognitive abnormalities and symptoms of depression. Patients scoring in the intact range of either domain were more likely to be correctly identified by the therapists than were patients whose results were possibly or probably impaired.


CONCLUSIONS
Rehabilitation therapists had difficulty recognizing patients with cognitive and affective disorders. I recommend including a mental health professional on the treatment team, staff inservicing, and/or the use of standardized measures of mood and mental status to increase recognition of these syndromes in geriatric rehabilitation patients.
Ruchinskas
Robert
R
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA. rruchins@nimbus.ocis.temple.edu
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009788:Occupational Therapy; D026761:Physical Therapy Specialty; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011581:Psychological Tests; D021641:Recognition, Psychology