[Item series of the cognitive screening test compared to those of the mini-mental status examination]

The items of the ¿mini-mental state examination' (MMSE) and a Dutch dementia screening instrument, the ¿cognitive screening test' (CST), as well as the ¿geriatric mental status schedule' (GMS) and the ¿Dutch adult reading test' (DART), were administered to 4051 elderly people aged 65 to 84 years. This study was part of the Amsterdam Study of the Elderly (AMSTEL-project), which is a population survey of cognitive decline and dementia. Based on the item-pool, CST and MMSE scores were calculated. Both tests were comparable as far as their validity as dementia screeners is concerned (dementia criterion was GMS Organic syndrome, cut-point 2/3). The abbreviated version of the CST (CST-14) has a somewhat lower validity. The reliabilities of the unabbreviated CST (CST-20) and the MMSE are also comparable. The influence of age, education, depression, and premorbid intelligence (DART-IQ) was most notable in the MMSE. Thus, the CST-20 item set has slightly better psychometric properties than the MMSE. A figure is presented by which CST scores can be transformed into MMSE scores.