OBJECTIVE: To assess the psychometric characteristics of the Mini-Mental State Examination in elderly outpatients who seek primary health care. METHODS: A total of 303 subjects (>65 years) underwent comprehensive geriatric assessment with functional tools, including Mini-Mental State Examination. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and ROC curve were calculated. RESULTS: Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and area under ROC curve were 80.8%, 65.3%, 44.7%, 90.7% and 0.807 respectively (cutoff point =23/24). The best cutoff point for illiterate was 18/19 (sensitivity =73.5%; specificity =73.9%); and for literate was 24/25 (sensitivity =75%; specificity =69.7%). CONCLUSIONS: While screening elderly outpatients for dementia, schooling must be considered in the choice of the best cutoff point in the Mini-Mental State Examination.
Aging health; Health services for the aged; Cognition; Neuropsychological tests; Geriatric assessment; Sensitivity and specificity; Validity
