Home › Research › Disparities
[The Mini-Mental State Examination as a selected diagnostic test for dementia: a Colombian population study. GENECO]
Rosselli D, Ardila A, Pradilla G, Morillo L, Bautista L, Rey O, Camacho M.. Revista de neurologia, 2000-03-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Introduction Folstein's Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) is widely used as screening test for cognitive impairment. Objective To test a Spanish version of the MMSE in a population of high illiteracy rate. Material and methods Population-based survey of a stratified random sample of urban and rural residents of five regions of Colombia, followed by neurological and neuropsychological evaluation of suspect cases (phase 2). Dementia was diagnosed using DSM-IV criteria. Results 1,611 subjects age 50 or older filled out both the WHO Protocol for Epidemiologic Studies of Neurological Disorders and a Spanish version of the MMSE; 55.2% of them had three or less years of schooling; 536 individuals with scores below cutoff points were sent to phase 2. Of the population with satisfactory scores in MMSE 366 (34.0%) were evaluated by neurologists to exclude other neurological conditions. Twelve cases of dementia were diagnosed among individuals with scores below cutoff point and one among subjects with high scores. Age-adjusted prevalence was 8.1 per thousand subjects age 50 or over (95% CI: 3.7-12.5); and 34.2 per thousand for ages 75 or over (95% CI: 12.2-56.2). Sensitivity and specificity were 92.3 and 53.7%; 16 of the 19 questions show significant differences (p Conclusions MMSE scores correlated closely with level of education. Low specificity leads to many non-demented subjects with low educational status requiring further investigation.
Key findings
- Results 1,611 subjects age 50 or older filled out both the WHO Protocol for Epidemiologic Studies of Neurological Disorders and a Spanish version of the MMSE; 55.2% of them had three or less years of schooling; 536 individuals with scores below cutoff points were sent to phase 2.
- Sensitivity and specificity were 92.3 and 53.7%; 16 of the 19 questions show significant differences (p Conclusions MMSE scores correlated closely with level of education.
Why it matters
This Colombian population study tested a Spanish version of the Mini-Mental State Examination and found sensitivity of 92.3% and specificity of 53.7%, with scores closely correlated with level of education. It is about a diagnostic screening test, not about treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Disparities →
Study details
- Study designclinical trial
- Participants1,611
- Effect size55.2%; 34.0%; 53.7%
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 43/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 41 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 43 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Revista de neurologia) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Revista de Neurología: journal h-index 51 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | Design recorded as “clinical trial”, which our rubric does not rank (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 | 2000 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 3 / 4 | 1,611 participants |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 125 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 4.5 citations a year over 28 year(s) since 2000 |
| Impact for its field and year | 1 / 6 | Cited 0.7× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 6 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 15 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | Pontificia Universidad Javeriana: institution h-index 227 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 10775968) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 41 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 41 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 43 out of 100. |
| Total | 43 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
May need a subscription OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 6 Feb 1020), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.
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. The record names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Rosselli, D., Ardila, A., Pradilla, G., Morillo, L., Bautista, L., Rey, O., et al. (2000). [The Mini-Mental State Examination as a selected diagnostic test for dementia: a Colombian population study. GENECO]. Revista de neurologia. https://doi.org/10.33588/rn.3005.99125
Vancouver
Rosselli D, Ardila A, Pradilla G, Morillo L, Bautista L, Rey O, et al. [The Mini-Mental State Examination as a selected diagnostic test for dementia: a Colombian population study. GENECO]. Revista de neurologia. 2000. doi:10.33588/rn.3005.99125. PMID: 10775968.
BibTeX
@article{rosselli2000-10775968,
author = {Rosselli, D. and Ardila, A. and Pradilla, G. and Morillo, L. and Bautista, L. and Rey, O. and Camacho, M.},
title = {{[The Mini-Mental State Examination as a selected diagnostic test for dementia: a Colombian population study. GENECO]}},
journal = {Revista de neurologia},
year = {2000},
doi = {10.33588/rn.3005.99125},
pmid = {10775968},
url = {https://doi.org/10.33588/rn.3005.99125}
}
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.
Later studies that cite this one
6 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references.
Related studies in Disparities
Also tagged “assessment”
840 studies in the library carry the topic tag “assessment”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 840 tagged studies.