A normative, community-based study of mini-mental state in elderly adults: The effect of age and educational level

Abstract

We investigated community-based data of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores of elderly residents along with the effects of age and educational level MMSE was planned for all residents over 65 years of age in a town in northern Japan. The number of elders who took the MMSE was 2,266 (90%). The score significantly declined with age and lower educational level, although no effect of sex was apparent. For the MMSE subitems, all the values except for that of naming showed effects of both age and educational level. Those screened by MMSE who fell in the range of cognitive impairment (< 24) accounted for 21.8% and those with severe cognitive impairment (< 18) constituted 6.0%. Despite the differences in language and culture, the mean scores are remarkably similar between Japan and other countries. This is the first normative, community-based study of MMSE among elderly adults in Japan.