Trump Continues to Say He Aced His Cognitive Test - What Does That Mean? [View all]

Want to Cheat at Your Medicare Wellness Visit?

Here's some advice to anyone about to take one of those cognitive tests. Note that if you pass the simple "Mini-Cog" you won't have to go on toe take more comprehensive test. Donald always gets to take the comprehensive test, based on his statements.

In most clinics you'll get a cognitive test by the PA who takes your blood pressure and asks you some questions. What you may not know is that it is a standardized thing. It's called the "Mini-Cog" and is almost universally used. Its validity in identifying cognitive deficits has been well-demonstrated, and the "Mini-Cog" is the standard initial test everyone ends up getting. I'm very familiar with it now, having taken it 15 times at my annual Medicare wellness visits.

The "Mini-Cog" consists of just two things:

1. Writing the numbers on a clock face and drawing hands to indicate the time as 11:10. It doesn't matter if you aren't careful about the length of the hands, and the hour hand does not need to point slightly past 11 to indicate that 10 minutes have passed. The time is always the same.

This test is worth 2 points. If you get all the numbers in the right places, more or less, you get a point. If you draw the hands pointing at the right places, you get a point.

The trick? It's always the same test. if you want to, you can practice it at home. In the past, the patient also had to draw the circle. That was too hard to score, though, so you don't have to practice that.

2. Remembering three words. Before the clock test, the person administering the test will give you three nouns and ask you to repeat them. Then,
you're supposed to remember them for later.

After the clock test, you'll be asked to repeat the three words. Each word is worth one point in your score. Here's the trick:

There are only six groups of three words that are used. They are:
1. Banana, Sunrise, Chair
2. Daughter, Heaven, Mountain
3. Village, Kitchen, Baby
4. River, Nation, Finger
5. Captain, Garden, Picture
6. Leader, Season, Table

The trick? You could memorize all six, but if you can do that, you're obviously cognitively OK. However, most PAs use the same three words every time, and it's usually the #1 group. That's why this is often known as the "banana, sunrise, chair" test. In my 15 times of taking this test, in all but one of them, the #1 noun group was used. In the other, it was the #3 group. Think about it: The PA also has to remember the words, so he or she usually uses the same word group every time. If you have a memory deficit, you won't remember the words for a year, anyhow.

That's it. You don't really need to cheat, though. Both are easy tests. If you can't do them, then you probably do have some level of cognitive deficit. If that's the case, you wouldn't be able to cheat anyhow, especially on the word list challenge. So, don't worry about it. You need 3 points. If you score lower than that, the doctor will suggest the longer, more elaborate cognitive test - the one Trump has to take.

Here's a PDF used by PAs who administer the test:
https://www.ohsu.edu/sites/default/files/2023-01/05%29%20SUPPLEMENTAL%20-%20Mini-Cog.pdf