Introduction: In recent years, the number of people aged 65 and over worldwide has increased dramatically. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the changes that occur as a consequence of aging. One of these is the decline in cognitive abilities which are crucial for carrying out everyday functions and activities. Occupational therapists treating older adults assess their cognitive abilities to find out to what extent there has been a decline and why and how the changes affect the performance of activities of daily living. The results of the assessment guide occupational therapists and measure the success of the progress. For this purpose, they have several cognitive standardized and non-standardized instruments to choose from. Purpose: To review the standardized cognitive assessment instruments most commonly used in occupational therapy and to determine their usefulness. Methods: The literature search was conducted using the Cochrane Library, Cinahl, Medline Plus, OT Seeker, PubMed, and Sage. In the final results, we used articles published after the year 2010. The articles had to report on research done in the field of occupational therapy assessment instruments for older adults, both in the area of cognitive decline and in the area of assessment of body structure and physical function. For the thesis, 15 scientific articles were used. Results: We found that occupational therapists most commonly use the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Clock Drawing Test, the Loewenstein Cognitive Assessment, and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment when treating clients with cognitive decline. All assessment instruments have in common that they are standardized, reliable, valid, and suitable for clients aged 65 years or older. More than one assessment is most often needed to assess the actual condition of the user. Discussion and conclusion: Evaluation in occupational therapy is an important part of treatment. It is important that the occupational therapist knows the user, and his/her problems and then decides on an appropriate assessment form. Occupational therapists around the world are increasingly striving to implement reliable and valid assessment instruments in therapy because they make it easier for them to justify and support their treatment decisions with evidence.
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