Journal

The Japanese journal of neuropsychology

[Vol.23 No.3 contents]
Japanese/English

Full Text of this Article
in Japanese PDF (487K)
ArticleTitle The annual rate of change on the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) in Alzheimer's disease: an analysis of the rates for the first and the second year
Language J
AuthorList Fumika Isobe1), Chie Usuki1), Takuya Sato2), Atsushi Sato2), Toru Imamura1)3)
Affiliation 1) Department of Speech Therapy, School of Health Sciences, Niigata University of Health and Welfare
2) Division of Speech Therapy, Department of Rehabilitation, Niigata Rehabilitation Hospital
3) Department of Neurology, Niigata Rehabilitation Hospital
Publication Japanese Journal of Neuropsychology: 23 (3), 220-229, 2007
Received Dec 20, 2006
Accepted Jul 3, 2007
Abstract Objectives: To estimate the annual rate of change on the score of the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and to find factors affecting the rates of change for the first and the second year. Methods: We studied 62 AD patients in the memory clinic of Niigata Rehabilitation Hospital. All the patients scored 10 or more on the initial MMSE and were examined one year after. The 49 of the 62 patients were examined two years after. The remaining 13 patients who dropped-out in the second year scored significantly worse than the 49 patients did in the MMSE and the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS) for one-year follow up. The 13 patients also showed significantly worse rate of MMSE change for the first year. The mean age of the 49 patients at the point of the one-year follow up was 80.1±6.6 (63-93) years, the mean MMSE score at the point of the one-year follow up was 19.4±4.2 (11-29). A paired t test compared the annual rates of MMSE change for the first and the second year. Result: The mean annual rate of change on the MMSE was 0.1±2.3 (-3.9-4.9) for the first year and was -1.8±2.6 (-6.0-3.8) for the second year. There was a significant difference between the means of the two annual rates (t=3.4, p<.01) . Conclusion: The slower rate of MMSE change in the current study is attributed both to the older-age of the patients and to the improvement of cognitive disuse syndrome by the systematic non-medical interventions for the patients.
Keywords Alzheimer's disease (AD), mini-mental state examination (MMSE), non-medical interventions, clinical course

Copyright © 2002 NEUROPSYCHOLOGY ASSOCIATION OF JAPAN All rights reserved
http://www.neuropsychology.gr.jp/