Response to A Story During Cognitive Screening – Expression of the Inherent Awareness of Survival of Fellow Human Beings

Abstract

Abstract Background The comprehensive assessment of cognition should include the immediate recall of information as well as that provided after delay. The phenomenon of patients providing intrusions is well recognised in the realm of cognitive assessment. Certain intrusions have been found to recur across patient performances. Methods Retrospective analysis was undertaken of patients (n=9) screened for dementia using the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (Pearson) between 2022 and 2024. Data was sourced from MDT notes cataloguing the results of memory tests undertaken whereby the patient had added information regarding loss of life for persons involved in a fire. Data were elicited regarding List Learning (LL) and Recall; Story Memory and Recall, Figure Copy and Recall. The final sheet was used to elicit scores for each category. Results Median age was 76 (range 61-84 years). Male to female was 4:5. Patients were found to make a comment regarding loss of life e.g. ‘nobody was hurt’ where the information did not exist in the original story script. This occurred equally at Story Memory Stage and Story Recall Stage (77.7%). When compared with list and figure copy elements- only one patient also had errors in both LL and memory figure. Six patients had intrusion errors across other elements. Where the story was accentuated in both immediate and delayed recall stages- pts had intrusions in list learning (n=2, 22%) list recall (n=3, 33.3%) but no intrusions on Figure Copy- immediate or delayed. Conclusion Although this cohort of patients was small- each one of them included the status of life lost when given a short story to recite and then recall. These comments occurred both on immediate episodic recall and after delay and were not always associated with a replicated intrusion phenomena across other elements. This inherent interest in the survival of other humans is worth highlighting.