Mini-Mental State Examination: psychometric characteristics in elderly outpatients

• Published in: Revista de saúde pública Vol. 40; no. 4; pp. 712 - 719
• Main Authors: Lourenço, Roberto A, Veras, Renato P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: Brazil 01.08.2006
• Subjects: Age Distribution; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Brazil - epidemiology; Cognition Disorders - diagnosis; Cognition Disorders - epidemiology; Dementia - diagnosis; Female; Geriatric Assessment - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Male; Mental Status Schedule - standards; Mental Status Schedule - statistics & numerical data; Neuropsychological Tests; Outpatients - statistics & numerical data; ROC Curve; Sensitivity and Specificity; Sex Distribution; Socioeconomic Factors; Statistics, Nonparametric; Translations; Brazil
• ISSN: 0034-8910; 1518-8787
• DOI: 10.1590/S0034-89102006000500023

To assess the psychometric characteristics of the Mini-Mental State Examination in elderly outpatients who seek primary health care. A total of 303 subjects (>65 years) underwent comprehensive geriatric assessment with functional tools, including Mini-Mental State Examination. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and ROC curve were calculated. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and area under ROC curve were 80.8%, 65.3%, 44.7%, 90.7% and 0.807 respectively (cutoff point =23/24). The best cutoff point for illiterate was 18/19 (sensitivity =73.5%; specificity =73.9%); and for literate was 24/25 (sensitivity =75%; specificity =69.7%). While screening elderly outpatients for dementia, schooling must be considered in the choice of the best cutoff point in the Mini-Mental State Examination.