The Agreement between the MMSE and IQCODE Tests in a Community-Based Sample of Subjects Aged 70 Years or Older Receiving In-Home Nursing: An Explorative Study

AIM: It was the aim of this study to compare the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) with the Informant Questionnaire for Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE) and to explore the characteristics of subjects with possible dementia with only one of the two tools. METHODS: We used a random sample of patients aged 70+ receiving social service or in-home nursing. The patients were tested with the MMSE, and the next of kin was interviewed using the following: the IQCODE, the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD), the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), personal ADL (PADL) and the General Medical Health Rating (GMHR). RESULTS: Subjects with dementia defined only according to the MMSE showed a pattern of scores on IADL, PADL, CSDD, NPI-10 and GMHR similar to the no-dementia group according to both the MMSE and the IQCODE. Those with dementia defined only according to the IQCODE showed a pattern of scores similar to the possible dementia group according to both the MMSE and the IQCODE.