title: A preliminary study of the Six-Item Screener in detecting cognitive impairment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present retrospective study was to explore the clinical value of Six-Item Screener (SIS), which is constituted by 6 items from mini-mental status examination (MMSE), to identify cognitive impairment.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total number of 1976 patients aged over 50 years, from the Memory Clinic of Huashan Hospital were employed in a battery of neuropsychological tests including MMSE. Subjects with severe conditions, unable to cooperate, or having been previously enrolled, were excluded from this study. The employed subjects were divided into 3 groups: subjective memory complaints (SMCs) (475 cases), patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (440 cases), and patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) (1061 cases, including 555 mild, 339 moderate, and 167 severe). A total score of MMSE and a score of SIS composed of date, month, year, three-word delayed recall from MMSE were calculated. Data were analyzed based on educational background.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The cut-off of SIS score was <2 for illiterate, <3 for elementary, and <4 for junior high school or above. The sensitivity and specificity of SIS for detecting mild AD were 88.5% and 78.3%, respectively, with an overall accuracy of 83.8%, while for detecting MCI, the sensitivity and specificity were 34.3% and 90.1%, respectively, with an overall accuracy of 63.2%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SIS is an effective and reliable instrument for dementia detection in outpatient department. However, it has limited value for MCI identification.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, People's Hospital of Putuo District, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Mei-Rong
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Qi-Hao
authors.initials: QH
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Xin-Yi
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Xiao-Hong
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000150:complications; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012737:Sex Factors