Dementia testing in the elderly.

Cognitive testing with the Dementia Rating Scale was performed serially over an 18-month period in 410 nursing home patients. The principal findings were: deterioration in patients with congestive failure but not cerebrovascular accident: continuous deterioration in organic mental syndrome cases in relation to initial severity; specific impairment of memory in patients on neuroleptics; and no evidence that the nursing home environment alone induced cognitive decline.