Performance of Older Persons on Individual Items of Mini-Mental Status Examination

Abstract

Purpose: To study the relation between the performance of older persons in Delhi on individual components of MMSE and years spent on formal education. Material and methods: Random subjects above sixty years, attending out-patient clinics of Department of Medicine or Senior Citizen Clinic between November 2014-April 2016 were included in this study and approved by Institutional Ethical Committee after they consented. Patients with acute infectious conditions were excluded. Participants were assessed using a pre-designed MMSE. Frequency tables for all components were constructed. To evaluate the relationship between gender and MMSE as well as educational status and MMSE, the t-test was used. Linear regression models were developed using MMSE as an outcome variable, and exposure variables were added in blocks. Results: 100 subjects were included in this cross-sectional assessment. >90% of people were oriented to space and were able to repeat and recall all three objects. The mean MMSE score was 24.92 (±5.8). Males had a higher score than women. Education status affected fields like serial deduction, obeying a 3 stage command, writing, drawing and responding to a written command due to which only 50% of people scored well in these parameters. Conclusion: Age and education are critical factors in understanding the inconsistencies in MMSE execution. Subjects who spent more years in formal education performed better than the subjects with low education. The low educational levels increase the probability of misclassifying the ordinary subjects as cognitively impaired. Since the memory area of the MMSE is less influenced by training, it might be utilized alongside other tests in populaces with low instruction.

Keywords

• education
• mmse
• elderly
• frailty