RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY

The MMSE has excellent test-retest and inter-rater reliability. The MMSE accurately reflects the results of psychological tests and structural and functional measures of brain pathology. For example, the MMSE correlates significantly with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and many other neuropsychological measures of memory, attention, executive function and language. MMSE has been shown to decline on average 3.3 points per year in Alzheimer’s disease and correlates with the severity of pathology found at autopsy or by structural and functional imaging⁵. The MMSE score improves in response to treatments such as donepezil for Alzheimer’s disease⁶.

The score of MMSE is more similar in elderly identical twins than fraternal twins, suggesting a strong genetic component to the score. By these methods, the MMSE is 50% heritable in older adults from several countries, i.e. genetic factors account for about half the variance in scores.

Related posts:

The Care Home Experience Alisoun Milne The Nosology of Dementia Kenneth Rockwood Behavioural Management: Non-Pharmacological Jiska Cohen-Mansfield Depression After Stroke Peter Knapp and Allan House Sleep and Ageing: Disorders and Management Helen Chiu and Joshua Tsoh Training Requirements for Old Age Psychiatrists in the UK Susan Mary Benbow and Aparna Prasanna

Stay updated, free articles. Join our Telegram channel

Join