4/7/2016 Mental 

Functions — Guide to Phys. Therapist Prac.

Mental Functions

Mental functions of the brain include both global mental functions (such as consciousness, orientation function,
motivation, and impulse control) and speciတc mental functions (such as attention, memory, emotion, and
perception).

The physical therapist uses tests and measures to characterize the individual's level of mental function.
Responses monitored at rest, during activity, and after activity may indicate the presence or severity of an
impairment, activity limitation, or participation restriction.

Examples of Clinical Indications:

Risk factors for impaired mental functions

Chronic illness

Depression and other psychological or psychiatric diagnoses

Medication side eတects

Older adult

Health, wellness, and တtness needs

Fitness, including physical performance (eg, impaired judgment during workout, ineတective
attention and recall for training regimen)

Health and wellness (eg, inadequate understanding of the role of attention to safety during
activities)

Pathology or health condition

Cardiovascular (eg, malignant hypertension, stroke)

Neuromuscular (eg, hydrocephalus, traumatic brain injury [TBI])

Psychological or psychiatric (eg, depression or schizophrenia )

Pulmonary (eg, end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD])

Multisystem (eg, Down syndrome [DS])

Impairments of body functions and structures

Circulation (eg, abnormal blood pressure in shock)

Mental functions (eg, lack of response to stimulation, inability to follow instructions, lability)

Motor function (eg, psychomotor function, inability to regulate speed of response)

Ventilation and respiration (eg, hypoventilation, somnolence)

Activity limitations and participation restrictions

Self-care (eg, inability to perform bathroom transfers due to lack of safety awareness)

Domestic life (eg, decreased activity in domestic tasks due to poor attention span)

Education life (eg, inability to play at age-appropriate level due to lack of internal desire to move)

Work life (eg, inability to perform bricklaying due to inability to recall steps of task)

Community, social, or civic life (eg, inability to participate as volunteer at child's school due to
inattention, inability to participate in routine exercise program due to lack of interest)

Examples of What Tests and Measures May Characterize or Quantify:

Cognition, including ability to process commands (eg, developmental inventories, indexes,
interviews, mental state scales, observations, questionnaires, safety checklists) Speciတc Tests and
Measures in PTNow

Communication (eg, functional communication proတles, interviews, inventories, observations,

questionnaires) Speciတc Tests and Measures in PTNow

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4/7/2016 Mental Functions — Guide to Phys. Therapist Prac.
Consciousness and orientation, including agitation and coma (eg, adaptability tests, arousal and
awareness scales, indexes, proတles, questionnaires) Speciတc Tests and Measures in PTNow

Motivation (eg, adaptive behavior scales) Speciတc Tests and Measures in PTNow

Orientation to time, person, place, and situation (eg, attention tests, learning proတles, mental
state scales) Speciတc Tests and Measures in PTNow

Recall, including memory and retention (eg, assessment scales, interviews, questionnaires)
Speciတc Tests and Measures in PTNow

Examples of Data-Gathering Tools:

Indexes

Interviews

Inventories

Observations

Proတles

Questionnaires

Rating scales

Safety checklists

Examples of Data Used in Documentation:

Degree and type of orientation (eg, ability to recognize time, person, place, and situation)

Degree of short-term and long-term memory

Level of ability to attend to task or to participate

Level of motivation (eg, energy and drive)

Presence and severity of:

Cognitive impairment
Coma
Communication deတcits
Depression
Impaired consciousness
Impaired motivation

Last updated August 1, 2014.

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