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EFFECT OF AGE AND EDUCATION ON PERFORMANCE ON THE MINI‐MENTAL STATE EXAMINATION IN A HEALTHY OLDER POPULATION AND DURING THE COURSE OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

EFFECT OF AGE AND EDUCATION ON PERFORMANCE ON THE MINI‐MENTAL STATE EXAMINATION IN A HEALTHY... To the Editor: The Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE) 1 is used widely to detect cognitive impairment in older people. However, the MMSE, as well as many other psychometric instruments, has been found to be heavily influenced by factors such as age and education, and its specificity and sensitivity in detecting cognitive impairment is ameliorated by correcting scores with normative data from the general population. 2 The MMSE score is related positively to education level and negatively to age. This effect has been demonstrated in healthy populations, but the way in which these two factors interact with cognitive performance during the course of dementia is still unknown. Even if the clinical severity of the dementing illness is the main determinant of MMSE score variance, it is likely that a small part of the variance is also explained by age and education. Therefore, the study was designed to evaluate the magnitude of the association of age and education with the MMSE score in a “normal” elderly population and in a group of patients affected by Alzheimer's disease (AD) in order to examine the extent to which demographic variables retain their influence upon cognitive performance during the course of dementia. Data http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of American Geriatrics Society Wiley

EFFECT OF AGE AND EDUCATION ON PERFORMANCE ON THE MINI‐MENTAL STATE EXAMINATION IN A HEALTHY OLDER POPULATION AND DURING THE COURSE OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

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References (16)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
1995 The American Geriatrics Society
ISSN
0002-8614
eISSN
1532-5415
DOI
10.1111/j.1532-5415.1995.tb05550.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

To the Editor: The Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE) 1 is used widely to detect cognitive impairment in older people. However, the MMSE, as well as many other psychometric instruments, has been found to be heavily influenced by factors such as age and education, and its specificity and sensitivity in detecting cognitive impairment is ameliorated by correcting scores with normative data from the general population. 2 The MMSE score is related positively to education level and negatively to age. This effect has been demonstrated in healthy populations, but the way in which these two factors interact with cognitive performance during the course of dementia is still unknown. Even if the clinical severity of the dementing illness is the main determinant of MMSE score variance, it is likely that a small part of the variance is also explained by age and education. Therefore, the study was designed to evaluate the magnitude of the association of age and education with the MMSE score in a “normal” elderly population and in a group of patients affected by Alzheimer's disease (AD) in order to examine the extent to which demographic variables retain their influence upon cognitive performance during the course of dementia. Data

Journal

Journal of American Geriatrics Society – Wiley

Published: Aug 1, 1995

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