title: The Mini-Cog: a rapid dementia screening tool suitable for pharmacists' use.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To familiarize the consultant pharmacist with the use of the Mini-Cog as a rapid screening tool for the assessment of dementia and outline currently available evidence regarding the validity of this screening tool within the community.
  
  
  METHODS
  MEDLINE (1990-December 2006) and Web of Science (1995-December 2006) were searched for original research and review articles published in English.
  
  
  METHODS
  Relevant literature regarding use of the Mini-Cog.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There exists a growing literature base regarding the clinical use of the Mini-Cog. Dementia within the elderly ambulatory population remains largely unrecognized. A rapid screening tool such as the Mini-Cog is a valuable instrument for health care practitioners, including consultant pharmacists, within the community to identify patients with possible cognitive impairment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Mini-Cog provides pharmacists with an easy and effective tool for the screening of dementia within assisted living, long-term care, and community-dwelling populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacotherapy, Colleg eof Pharmacy, Washington State University/Elder Services, Spokane, Washington 99217-6131, USA. ssetter@smhca.org
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Setter
authors.forename: Joshua J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Neumiller
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Soo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Borson
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Scanlan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010595:Pharmacists; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology