title: The milan overall dementia assessment and the mini-mental state examination compared: an epidemiological investigation of dementia.
abstract: We assessed the validity of two screening tests [the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Milan Overall Dementia Assessment or (MODA)] in a population study on the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease, carried out in a small town in the north of Italy. A random sample of 1000 subjects aged 60 years or over entered the study. Subjects who scored below the cut-off points on MODA or on MMSE, or both, were further investigated with neuropsychological, laboratory and instrumental tests to ascertain a final diagnosis, which was considered as the gold standard. Our findings show that MODA has a higher sensitivity than MMSE in detecting subjects affected by dementing illnesses, while MMSE shows a higher specificity. MODA seems to be preferable to MMSE as a screening test for studies where a very high sensitivity is required.
authors.affiliation: 'S. Maugeri' Foundation, IRCCS, Medical Center of Rehabilitation, Division of Neurology, Neuropsychology Unit, Veruno, Italy. fcossa@fsm.it
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Cossa
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Sala
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Musicco
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Spinnler
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ubezio
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003704:Dementia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D018579:Patient Selection