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Sources of Variation on the Mini‐Mental State Examination in a Population‐Based Sample of Centenarians
Author(s) -
Dai Ting,
Davey Adam,
Woodard John L.,
Miller Lloyd Stephen,
Gondo Yasuyuki,
Kim SeockHo,
Poon Leonard W.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/jgs.12370
Subject(s) - centenarian , medicine , gerontology , demography , race (biology) , population , mini–mental state examination , cognition , longevity , cognitive impairment , environmental health , psychiatry , botany , sociology , biology
Centenarians represent a rare but rapidly growing segment of the oldest‐old. This study presents item‐level data from the M ini‐ M ental S tate E xamination ( MMSE ) in a cross‐sectional, population‐based sample of 244 centenarians and near‐centenarians (aged 98–108, 16% men, 21% African‐American, 38% community dwelling) from the Georgia Centenarian Study (2001–2008) according to age, education, sex, race, and residential status. Multiple‐ I ndicator M ultiple‐ C ause ( MIMIC ) models were used to identify systematic domain‐level differences in MMSE scores according to demographic characteristics in this age group. Indirect effects of age, educational attainment, race, and residential status were found on MMSE scores. Direct effects were limited to concentration for education and race and orientation for residential status. Mean levels of cognitive functioning in centenarians were low, with mean values below most commonly‐used cutoffs. Overall scores on the MMSE differed as a function of age, education, race, and residential status, with differences in scale performance limited primarily to concentration and orientation and no evidence of interactions between centenarian characteristics. Adjusting for education was not sufficient to account for differences according to race, and adjusting for residential status was not sufficient to account for differences according to age.