[Disorder profile in the Mini-Mental State Examination in patients with mild cognitive impairment].
BACKGROUND
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a condition that can act as a risk factor for the development of dementia.


OBJECTIVE
Our objective was to determine the profile of performance in the MMSE (Mini-Mental State Examination) in patients with MCI.


METHODS
We studied the performance in the MMSE of 117 patients who satisfied the diagnostic criteria for MCI. The means and standard deviations (SD) were calculated and the sample was stratified according to the total score obtained in the MMSE; performance in each area of the MMSE was analysed for each group.


RESULTS
Mean performance in the MMSE was 27.87, with a range of 23 to 30, and a SD of 1.75. The most compromised areas were memory and attention; there were mild alterations in temporal orientation. The ability to copy figures was seen to be affected in the groups with the best performances and this was maintained and increased slightly in the most affected levels.


CONCLUSIONS
The mean value obtained is very similar to that of the most recent studies and is above the cut score for the MMSE for schooled populations (25/26). Our study reaffirms the idea that the MMSE is not sensitive to the early stages of impairment. The most strongly involved areas are memory and attention. We discuss the visual-praxis disorder that was found, and assigned to the structure of the MMSE and the bias inherent in the sample, with no confirmable incidence of schooling.
Fontán-Scheitler
L E
LE
Departamento de Neuropsicología, Instituto de Neurología, Hospital de Clínicas Dr. Manuel Quintela, Montevideo, Uruguay. lfontan@mednet.org.uy
Lorenzo-Otero
J
J
Silveira-Brussain
A
A
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index