The test-retest reliability of the Mini-Mental State Examination in chronic schizophrenic patients

The test-retest reliability of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was explored in a sample of 22 inpatients suffering from chronic schizophrenia by DSM-III-R criteria. Patients were tested 4 times during a period of 4-6 weeks. The total score for serial sevens showed consistently significant reliability at about 0.7, and the total score for spelling displayed a lower reliability at about 0.4, which was of borderline significance. In this short period of time, 36% and 27% of the patients shifted between being demented and nondemented when the serial sevens and spelling, respectively, were used to calculate total scores. The MMSE should not be used to categorize schizophrenics as demented or nondemented in biological studies using relatively stable variables.