Short answer
Appearance, behavior, speech, mood, affect, thought process, thought content, perception, cognition, insight and judgment.
Mental Status Exam Components
| Component | What to assess | Example terms |
|---|---|---|
| Appearance | Grooming, dress, hygiene, apparent age | Well-groomed, disheveled |
| Behavior | Eye contact, cooperation, psychomotor activity | Agitated, psychomotor retardation |
| Speech | Rate, volume, tone, fluency | Pressured, slowed, monotone |
| Mood | The patient’s own description | “I feel hopeless” |
| Affect | Observed emotional expression | Flat, blunted, labile, congruent |
| Thought process | How thoughts are organized | Linear, tangential, circumstantial, flight of ideas |
| Thought content | What the patient thinks about | Delusions, obsessions, suicidal/homicidal ideation |
| Perception | Sensory disturbances | Auditory hallucinations, illusions |
| Cognition | Orientation, attention, memory | Oriented ×4 |
| Insight | Awareness of illness | Good, partial, poor |
| Judgment | Decision-making | Intact, impaired |
USA Mental Status Exam: Quick Facts
- MSE type
- Observational, structured description
- MMSE max score
- 30 points
- Common MMSE cutoff
- ≤23 suggests impairment (adjust for education)
- MoCA normal
- 26+ out of 30
- Time (MMSE)
- About 10 minutes
- Used by
- Psychiatry, nursing, primary care, neurology
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