Dementia test 'needs to be adapted for educated adults'
18 July 2008
 Researchers claim that a dementia test should be adapted to diagnose highly educated adults. A team from Texas Tech University used the test called the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) to examine the cognitive function of dementia patients.They used a sample of 1,141 patients with over 16 years of education from the local Alzheimer Disease Research Centre. Some 307 had dementia, 176 suffered with mild cognitive impairment and 658 people had no dementia signs.The current MMSE cut-off score of 24 determines if an individual suffers from dementia and the researchers have suggested that the score should be raised to 27, which it claims will increase correct diagnoses from 89 per cent to 90 per cent."The current findings are not intended to encourage the diagnosis of cognitive impairment or dementia based on total MMSE scores alone," the authors conclude.Another recent US study, by scientists from the University of California, claimed that women are more likely than men to suffer from dementia after the age of 90.  © Adfero Ltd
© 2008 Adfero Ltd. All rights reserved. Any views and opinions expressed in news articles are not those of Craegmoor Limited and its associated companies. News supplied by Adfero DirectNews.
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