mental status exam

A systematic evaluation of a patient's level of psychosocial, intellectual, and emotional functioning. The examiner, who is usually a psychiatrist or physician but may be a social worker, observes the patient's affect, thought content, perceptive and cognitive functions, and need and motivation for treatment. This may be done, in part, by asking such questions of the patient as, "What day is today?" and "Where are you now?" The patient may also be asked to repeat a series of numbers forward and backward and to interpret several aphorisms, such as "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones."