title: Validation Study of the Mini-Mental State Examination in Urdu Language for Pakistani Population.
abstract: Validation study of the Mini-Mental State Examination in Urdu language for Pakistani population.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study was conducted primarily to validate and determine the optimal cutoff score in the diagnosis of dementia among Pakistani's and study the effects of gender and education on the MMSE performance in our population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four hundred participants took part in the study. Patient with dementia recruited from five major hospitals from Pakistan. The MMSE was translated into Urdu.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 61 men and 39 women in dementia group and 225 men and 75 women in the control group. The mean score of Urdu MMSE were lower in patients with dementia 18.5 ± 5.6 (range 0-30) as compared to the controls 26.8 ± 2.6 (range 7-30). This difference between groups was statistically significant (p<0.001). Educational based MMSE score below 15 yielded perfect sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of dementia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These finding confirm the influence of level of education on MMSE score and education stratified cutoff scores should be used while screening for cognitive impairment in this population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Neurology, Psychiatry, Aga Khan University, Karachi.
authors.forename: Safia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Awan
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Neurology, Psychiatry, Aga Khan University, Karachi.
authors.forename: Naila
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shahbaz
authors.affiliation: Neurology Section, Department of Medicine, Karachi Medical & Dental College and Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Karachi.
authors.forename: Syed Wasim
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Akhtar
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Shifa International Medical College and Hospital, Islamabad.
authors.forename: Arsalan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Geriatrics, Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi.
authors.forename: Sadaf
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iqbal
authors.affiliation: Geriatrics, Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi.
authors.forename: Sellal
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry, Aga Khan University, Karachi.
authors.forename: Haider
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Naqvi
authors.affiliation: Neurology, Psychiatry, Aga Khan University, Karachi.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wasay
keywords: Mini mental status examination; cognitive function; dementia; mental disorders; validation tool