OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS OF BRIEF SCREENS FOR DEMENTIA IN A MULTICULTURAL POPULATION

Operating characteristics of seven screens for dementia were compared across various groups for 795 persons who had received a criterion dia gnostic evaluation. Area under the curve (AUC), based on receiver oper ating characteristics, was compared between and within scales as an in dication of their efficiency. Differences in AUC were only 5% across a ll the scales for the entire sample, but increased to 11% across socio cultural groups and scales and to 20% across education groups and scal es. Two scales (the Mini-Mental State Exam and the Short Portable Ment al Status Questionnaire) misclassified most nondementias for the entir e sample, and all scales misclassified most nondementias among persons with less than 5 years of education. Findings could support a recomme ndation that certain shorter scales be used because they perform as we ll as longer ones, are more consistent across cultural and educational groups, and can be more easily modified to improve performance in cul turally diverse populations.