title: Scoring written material from the Mini-Mental State Examination: a comparison of face-to-face, fax and video-linked scoring.
abstract: We assessed the reliability of scoring written items of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) using different communication modes: face to face, fax and videoconferencing. A total of 99 MMSEs were recovered from the records of a community mental health team for the elderly. The written parts of the examination (sentence and pentagrams) were scored--in person, using a faxed copy or over the video-link--according to published criteria. Relative to in-person scoring, sentences could be scored reliably when faxed (kappa = 0.80), as could pentagrams (kappa = 0.71). Sentences could be reliably scored over the videoconferencing link (kappa = 0.70), but pentagrams could not (kappa = 0.47). Caution is required before accepting the results of scoring such tests over video-links.
authors.affiliation: Lewisham and Guy's Mental Health NHS Trust, London, UK. CBALL34595@aol.com
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ball
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tyrrell
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Long
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards*; D016636:Telefacsimile; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000592:standards*; D014741:Video Recording