Cognitive Functioning and Impairment Among Rural Elderly Hispanics and Non-Hispanic Whites as Assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination

We conducted a cross-sectional study to determine the distribution of cognitive functioning as measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) among a sample of Hispanic and non-Hispanic White (NHW) residents from two counties in rural, southern Colorado. Residents aged 60 years and older (N=l,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences Psychological sciences and social sciences, 1999-07, Vol.54B (4), p.P223-P230
Main Authors: Mulgrew, Christine L., Morgenstern, Nora, Shetterly, Susan M., Baxter, Judith, Barón, Anna E., Hamman, Richard F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult. Elderly
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Alzheimer Disease - diagnosis
Alzheimer Disease - ethnology
Alzheimer Disease - psychology
Bias
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition & reasoning
Cognition Disorders - diagnosis
Cognition Disorders - ethnology
Cognition Disorders - psychology
Colorado
Developmental psychology
European Continental Ancestry Group - psychology
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gerontology
Hispanic Americans
Hispanic Americans - psychology
Humans
Male
Mental Status Schedule - statistics & numerical data
Older people
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychometrics
Rural areas
Rural Population
White people
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Summary:We conducted a cross-sectional study to determine the distribution of cognitive functioning as measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) among a sample of Hispanic and non-Hispanic White (NHW) residents from two counties in rural, southern Colorado. Residents aged 60 years and older (N=l,360) were administered the full MMSE, a sociodemographic and medical interview. Protocols were developed to administer the MMSE equitably in both ethnic groups. Younger Hispanics tended to be categorized as severely impaired more than similarly aged NHWs (OR at age 70 = 4.14), however, older Hispanics and NHWs performed similarly after adjusting for education and gender (OR at age 90 = 1.00). The use of a modified MMSE scale that removed the ethnic bias demonstrated that NHWs and Hispanics had similar levels of severe impairment after full adjustment (OR = 0.93). Given the widespread use of the MMSE, these findings indicate the need for further validation of this instrument.
ISSN:1079-5014
1758-5368
DOI:10.1093/geronb/54B.4.P223