J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc.  2003 Jan;42(1):124-130.

Comparison of Diagnostic Validities between MMSE-K and K-MMSE for Screening of Dementia

• Kim JM
• Shin IS
• Yoon JS
• Lee HY

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This study aimed to compare the diagnostic validities between the Korean version of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE-K) and the Korean MMSE (K-MMSE) for screening of dementia and to investigate the possible changes of optimal cutoff scores of each instrument according to age, gender, and educational level.
METHODS
746 community residents aged 65 or over in two areas of Kwangju, Republic of Korea were assessed with MMSE-K and K-MMSE and were also evaluated for the diagnoses of dementia (DSM-IV).
RESULTS
The performances, measured by area under receiver operating characteristics curve, of MMSE-K and K-MMSE against DSM-IV dementia were 0.93 and 0.94 respectively. The optimal cutoff scores for screening of dementia were 21|22 in MMSE-K and 17|18 in K-MMSE. Changes of the optimal cutoff scores according to age, gender, and educational level of the sample were 0-2 in the MMSE-K and 2-5 in the K-MMSE.
CONCLUSIONS
MMSE-K and K-MMSE could be used for screening of dementia with excellent validities. For primary health care staff, however, it was suggested that MMSE-K would be more feasible than K-MMSE because the former had less changes in the optimal cutoff scores and was easier to interpret its results than the latter.

Keyword

MMSE-K; K-MMSE; Dementia; Sensitivity; Specificity; Aged

MeSH Terms

Dementia*
Diagnosis
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Gwangju
Mass Screening*
Primary Health Care
Republic of Korea
ROC Curve
Sensitivity and Specificity