Mini-Mental State Examination

» A new edition of the MMSE is now available!The MMSE is a brief, quantitative measure of cognitive status in adults. It can be used to screen for cognitive impairment, to estimate the severity of cognitive impairment at a given point in time, to follow the course of cognitive changes in an individual over time, and to document an individual's response to treatment.The standard MMSE form published by PAR is based on its original 1975 conceptualization, with minor subsequent modifications by the authors. The MMSE has demonstrated validity and reliability in psychiatric, neurologic, geriatric, and other medical populations. The convenient new "all-in-one" test form includes a detachable sheet with stimuli for the Comprehension, Reading, Writing, and Drawing tasks. The form also includes alternative item substitutions for administration in special circumstances.The MMSE has been recommended for the screening of cognition in depressed patients (Special Report, Expert Consensus Guideline Series, Postgraduate Medicine, October 2001).The Clinical Guide by Marshal F. Folstein, MD, Susan E. Folstein, MD, and Gary Fanjiang, MD describes the development, validation, administration, and interpretation of the MMSE. Normative data (T scores) for age and education groups are provided in the Appendix as a supplement to the traditional interpretation of the MMSE raw scores.The following authorized translations of the MMSE are currently available:                                                                 In order to use a modified version of the MMSE, including a modified format or translation, please download and complete the Permission Request Form. A comprehensive list of research articles related to the MMSE is available via Mendeley, a free reference management tool. After accessing the link, you will be prompted to create an account. A white paper describing how to use this research repository can be found here. Use of this resource is encouraged to facilitate research using the MMSE. Both the list and the white paper are available in the Resources tab above.

Marshal F. Folstein, MD, Susan E. Folstein, MD, and Paul R. McHugh, MD