This study aimed to evaluate the cognitive function of elderly people and determine the frequency of cognitive impairment, stratified by age, education, hobby, social relationship, informed chronic diseases and depression. In a random sample of 394 elderly aged over 60 years in the city of Batatais, state of São Paulo, Brazil, was administered a questionnaire on socioeconomic conditions, health and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). To track the cognitive impairment, we used the MMSE - Mini Mental State Examination modified. In the assessment of cognitive performance, we used a cutoff point of 23. It was observed that 81.7% of the subjects were above this point and 18.3% were below. The elderly who had higher scores were associated with factors such as age (60-69 years), educational level, reading habits, good social relations, especially with family and no hypertension, diabetes, urinary incontinence, cataracts and/or depressive symptoms. The global cognitive performance of older people assessed by the tool based on the MMSE showed that those with socres below the cutoff point had a similar proportion to that found in other studies.
Aged; Cognition Disorders; Evaluation; Screening
