EFFECTS OF EDUCATION AND SEX ON SOME COMMON CLINICAL TESTS USED IN MENTAL STATUS EXAMINATION

Some common clinical tests were evaluated to see the effects of education and sex. The effect of education was highly significant on tests of Attention and Concentration, Immediate Retention and Recall, General Knowledge (From ‘A’), Counting and Calculation, and Comprehension. Males tended to score higher on all of these tests and the differences were significant on tests of Attention and Concentration, and Comprehension in illiterate group of subjects, and on tests of Comprehension in V–IX educational group. It is suggested to obtain norms for these tests for different educational groups, as well as for males and females, before any valid conclusion can be drawn. The tests of Orientation, Remote Memory, and Recent Memory were not affected by age & education.