University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita, Wichita, KS, USA.
Am Fam Physician. 2019 Jan 15;99(2):101-108.
Neuropsychologists provide detailed assessments of cognitive and emotional functioning that often cannot be obtained through other diagnostic means. They use standardized assessment tools and integrate the findings with other data to determine whether cognitive decline has occurred, to differentiate neurologic from psychiatric conditions, to identify neurocognitive etiologies, and to determine the relationship between neurologic factors and difficulties in daily functioning. Family physicians should consider referring patients when there are questions about diagnostic decision making or planning of individualized management strategies for patients with mild cognitive impairment, dementia, traumatic brain injury, and other clinical conditions that affect cognitive functioning. Neuropsychological testing can differentiate Alzheimer dementia from nondementia with nearly 90% accuracy. The addition of neuropsychological testing to injury severity variables (e.g., posttraumatic amnesia) increases predicted accuracy in functional outcomes. A neuropsychological evaluation can be helpful in addressing concerns about functional capacities (e.g., ability to drive or live independently) and in determining a patient's capacity to make decisions about health care or finances. Most patients who underwent neuropsychological evaluation and their significant others reported that they found the evaluation helpful in understanding and coping with cognitive problems.
神经心理学家提供详细的认知和情绪功能评估，这些评估通常无法通过其他诊断手段获得。他们使用标准化的评估工具，并将这些发现与其他数据结合起来，以确定是否发生了认知能力下降，区分神经和精神疾病，确定神经认知病因，并确定神经因素与日常功能障碍之间的关系。当家庭医生对轻度认知障碍、痴呆、创伤性脑损伤和其他影响认知功能的临床情况的诊断决策或个体化管理策略的规划存在疑问时，应考虑转介患者进行神经心理测试。神经心理学测试可以将阿尔茨海默病痴呆与非痴呆区分开来，准确率接近 90%。将神经心理学测试添加到损伤严重程度变量（例如，创伤后遗忘症）中可以提高对功能结果的预测准确性。神经心理评估有助于解决对功能能力的关注（例如，驾驶或独立生活的能力），并确定患者对医疗保健或财务做出决策的能力。大多数接受神经心理评估的患者及其重要他人报告说，他们发现评估有助于理解和应对认知问题。
