[Mini Mental State Examination: association of the score obtained with the age and degree of literacy in an aged population].

BACKGROUND

To differentiate dementia from the normal human decline scales may be used in an attempt to identity and quantify the cognitive damage which a subject may present. The Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) is one of those. This study was performed to identify the relation of the responses between the MMSE and the sociodemographic variables of the subjects.

METHODS

The MMSE was applied as a tool to determine the presence of cognitive alterations in a prospective study of people over the age of 65 years from La Selva del Camp (Baix Camp, Catalonia, Spain). The population was differentiated according to the cut off point (24 points) with the relation of the score obtained by each subjects being studied with the sociodemographic variables of the same.

RESULTS

The mean score obtained in the test by the total population was: (mean +/- SD) 23.9 +/- 4.5 points; 24.6 +/- 4.9 in the males and 22.5 +/- 5.8 in the females. In the age group 65-74 years the mean score was 24.8 +/- 3.8; 23 +/- 4.6 in those from 75-80 years and 21.4 +/- 6 in the age group over 85 years. Sex was significantly associated (p = 0.0003), as were age (p = 0.0002) and the degree of alphabetization (p = 0.0000) with women obtaining a lower MMSE score than men, the most elderly was lower than that obtained by the younger and those of less alphabetization lower than those with education.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the MMSE is a good tool for the detection of cognitive alterations in a population, it must be kept in mind that the result of this test may be influenced by the age and education of the subject and should therefore not be used as an exclusive element in the diagnosis of dementia.