title: Reference values for the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in octo- and nonagenarians.
abstract: The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was used in a population survey of all inhabitants of Leiden, the Netherlands, over 85 years (n = 1258). In this paper we report on 532 subjects without neurological or psychiatric disease. Results show that the median score and lowest quartile cut-off score remain high until the tenth decade (median score = 28, lowest quartile cut-off score = 26). Thus age, in itself, is not a major limitation in using the MMSE. In this study a comparatively low level of education (the majority had 6 to 7 years of education) did not affect the results on the MMSE in a negative way, nor did we find an association with the use of psychoactive drugs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Heeren
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Lagaay
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: von Beek
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Rooymans
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hijmans
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004493:Education; D005260:Female; D006311:Hearing Disorders; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D009426:Netherlands; D012016:Reference Values; D014786:Vision Disorders