Home › Research › Clinical safety
Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire as a screening test for dementia and delirium among the elderly
Erkinjuntti T, Sulkava R, Wikström J, Autio L.. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 1987-05-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Pfeiffer's Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ) is a brief screening test for organic brain syndromes. The validity of the SPMSQ was evaluated in a random sample of 119 community residents and 282 consecutively admitted medical inpatients. The SPMSQ proved to be a sensitive and specific screening test for moderate to severe dementia both in the community and hospital. Using the cut-off point (number of errors accepted) of three errors, the sensitivity of the test was 86.2% and the specificity 99.0% among medical inpatients. The percentages in the community sample were 66.7% and 100%, respectively. The validity of the SPMSQ was not as good for delirium because of its variable clinical picture. For screening purposes lower cut-off points than previously recommended should be used: three errors for dementia and two errors for delirium. Among Finnish elderly people it was not necessary to use correction for education in the SPMSQ.
Key findings
- Using the cut-off point (number of errors accepted) of three errors, the sensitivity of the test was 86.2% and the specificity 99.0% among medical inpatients.
- The percentages in the community sample were 66.7% and 100%, respectively.
- The validity of the SPMSQ was not as good for delirium because of its variable clinical picture.
- For screening purposes lower cut-off points than previously recommended should be used: three errors for dementia and two errors for delirium.
- Among Finnish elderly people it was not necessary to use correction for education in the SPMSQ.
Study details
- Effect size86.2%; 99.0%; 66.7%
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 40/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 23 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 40 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of the American Geriatrics Society) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 1987 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 3571790) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 23 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 23 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 40 out of 100. |
| Total | 40 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Free copy unknown: no free-copy check has an answer for this record yet. That does not mean it is paywalled.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Erkinjuntti, T., Sulkava, R., Wikström, J., & Autio, L. (1987). Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire as a screening test for dementia and delirium among the elderly. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.1987.tb04662.x
Vancouver
Erkinjuntti T, Sulkava R, Wikström J, Autio L. Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire as a screening test for dementia and delirium among the elderly. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 1987. doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.1987.tb04662.x. PMID: 3571790.
BibTeX
@article{erkinjuntti1987-3571790,
author = {Erkinjuntti, T. and Sulkava, R. and Wikström, J. and Autio, L.},
title = {{Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire as a screening test for dementia and delirium among the elderly}},
journal = {Journal of the American Geriatrics Society},
year = {1987},
doi = {10.1111/j.1532-5415.1987.tb04662.x},
pmid = {3571790},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.1987.tb04662.x}
}