Comparison of two cognitive screening measures for efficacy in differentiating dementia from depression in a geriatric inpatient population.

The Folstein Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and dementia screening measures developed by Benton (temporal orientation, oral word association, and visual reconstruction tasks) were compared for diagnostic efficacy with geriatric inpatients manifesting depression without dementia or mild or moderate dementias complicated by depression. Both instruments showed generally acceptable differentiation between dementia and depression-only cases overall. The MMSE was less sensitive in identifying mild and moderate multi-infarct dementias but showed better specificity than the Benton measures. The degree and type of dementia and the associated risk of classification error were found to be important factors in the choice of screening instruments.