The utility of the mini-mental status exam in older adults with traumatic brain injury.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the utility of the Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) among the older TBI population.


METHODS
The MMSE and a number of other neuropsychological tests were administered to forty-three adults aged 50 and over one year following mild to moderate TBI. The sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of the MMSE were evaluated in relation to these tests.


RESULTS
The domains of the MMSE generally exhibited low sensitivity while high specificity was demonstrated by Attention and Language. Positive predictive value was high only for Language but negative predictive value was moderate to high for all domains.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that one year following mild to moderate TBI among older adults, the MMSE should not be used to identify those with cognitive impairment; if administered, a perfect score on a component of the MMSE suggests that enhanced testing in that given domain may not reveal further impairment. A small sample size and a small number of those impaired limit our results.
Srivastava
Anil
A
Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. anil.srivastava@utoronto.ca
Rapoport
Mark Jeffrey
MJ
Leach
Larry
L
Phillips
Andrea
A
Shammi
Prathiba
P
Feinstein
Anthony
A
D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity