‘Yes’ ifs, ands or buts: examining performance and correlates of the repetition task in the Mini-Mental State Examination

✍ Scribed by Perla Werner; Jeremia Heinik; Ruth Lin; Avi Bleich

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 88 KB
• Volume: 14
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6230
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1166(199909)14:9<719::aid-gps2>3.0.co;2-k

✦ Synopsis

The aim of this study was to examine whether the type of sentence used in the repetition task included in the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) aected performance in a group of 79 demented and 19 non-demented Hebrewspeaking elderly persons. The cognitive functioning of the participants was assessed using the MMSE and CAMCOG examinations. The performance of the repetition task was evaluated by using three sentences: the literal translation of the English language expression used in the original MMSE; a well-known Hebrew proverb consisting of monosyllabic words and rhythmic eects; and another well-known Hebrew proverb without such attributes. Only a third of the participants successfully repeated the literally translated expression. It showed low predictive value and was highly aected by education. The well-known Hebrew monosyllabic proverb showed moderate predictive value but no discriminatory ability. The other well-known Hebrew proverb performed the best. The translation of the repetition task in the MMSE to other languages is problematic. Strict adherence to the original language proved to be the least desirable choice.