When and why

These are tests carried out by a clinical psychologist to help assess the severity and cause of cognitive symptoms such as forgetfulness, poor concentration and mental ability.

The patient is asked to perform a series of mental tests which assess certain skills including language, the ability to recall or recognise information and the speed at which tests are performed. It is supervised by a clinical psychologist who scores the results and interprets the findings.

How it will help

The pattern of results helps differentiate the reason for memory and mental problems from between depression, anxiety and HIV-associated dementia. The results are especially useful in detecting early changes of dementia; in advanced disease the test are often more difficult to carry out.