Population-Based Norms for the Korean Mini-Mental State Examination and Korean version of modified Mini-Mental State Examination

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Cognitive functioning was known to be affected by socioeconomic conditions including ethnicity. The Korean Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE) and the Korean version of the modified Mini-Mental State Examination (K-modified MMSE; K-mMMSE) scores by age, gender, and educational levels were evaluated. METHODS: Screening interviews were conducted with 2251 men and 3267 women aged 45 and over in 3 communities (Namwon-city of Chonbuk province, Younggwang-gun of Chonnam province). Descriptive performances (means, medians and percentile ranks) were calculated to summarize the range of normal performance. Scatterplots of the K-mMMSE scores according to age or educational attainments were performed. RESULTS: Lower age, higher education, and male gender were associated with higher scores of the K-MMSE and K-mMMSE. In women, more than half (50.6%) had no formal education and 546 women (16.7%) were illiterate. In men, the K-MMSE and K-mMMSE median scores ranged from 27 and 88 for individuals aged from 45 to 49 years old, to 25 and 76 for those aged 70 years and over. In women, the K-MMSE and the K-mMMSE median scores ranged from 17 and 53 for illiterate women, to 28 and 90 for women with more than 10 years of education. CONCLUSIONS: The use of the reference values will allow the clinician to interpret a patients performance on the K-MMSE and K-mMMSE, in light of the value expected from a group of normal subjects with the same sociodemographic profile.