SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC PREDICTORS AND CONCURRENT VALIDITY OF THE MINI-MENTAL-STATE-EXAMINATION AND THE MATTIS DEMENTIA RATING-SCALE

The Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Mattis Dementia Ratin g Scale (MDRS) are among the most commonly used screening tests for de mentia. The goals of our study were, firstly, to identify sociodemogra phic factors which may explain the variance of test results in a commu nity sample and, secondly, to investigate the interrelationship of the se two dementia screening tests in order to evaluate the concurrent va lidity. A total of 1947 subjects were investigated in the setting of t he Austrian Stroke Prevention Study (ASPS). Our study confirms most pr evious results demonstrating a relationship of higher dementia test sc ores with both younger age and higher educational level. Interestingly , the results we obtained suggest only a weak relationship and poor co ncurrent validity of the two tests. The total scores of the two tests show poor joint variance. This could lead to the conclusion that these tests evaluate different cognitive domains.