A new promising screening method for cognitive functioning in elderly patients

The Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) is frequently used as a screening method to detect cognitive dysfunctioning. However, the MMSE has limited sensitivity to detect mild impairment. We aimed to develop a new screening method to discriminate between normal and mild cognitive functioning in older subjects. Methods: Based on the literature, we selected several test-items related to the diagnostic criteria (DSM-IV) for dementia. This new composed instrument for Screening Cognitive Functions (SCOF) is a brief, 15-minutes approach with questions on orientation, serial attention test, recall of five words, clockdrawmg, language comprehension and reading, word fluency test, visual design reproduction, alternating sequences test, picture arrangement test, and overlapping figure test. The SCOF, MMSE, and complete neuropsychological examination (NPE) was administered, in random order, to 20 patients (mean age 78 � 6 yrs) admitted to the Dept. of Geriatric Medicine. Results: After deleting one question about orientation (which season), the internal consistancy of the SCOF was 0.80 (chronbach's alpha). Based on the NPE, we divided the subjects in 3 groups: mild (35%), moderate (60%) and serious cognitive impairrment (5%). The SCOF detected significantly (p