Score Distributions of the Mini-Mental State Examination, Clock Drawing Test, and Reisberg Global Deterioration Scale Across Operational Cognitive Impairment Severity Strata in Romanian Primary Care: A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study
- 1“Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 16 Universității Street, 700115 Iași, Romania
Abstract
Background/Objectives: The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Clock Drawing Test (CDT), and Reisberg Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) are used together in primary care. This study describes their score distributions across operational severity strata in a Romanian cohort. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study of a selected cohort of 326 adults aged ≥50 years with suspected cognitive impairment in three family medicine practices in Iași. One unblinded clinician administered all instruments and assigned the strata by integrated clinical assessment of functional status, MMSE performance, and Reisberg GDS staging, with approximate reference bands for both scales. Scores and their positions relative to these bands were summarised descriptively. Results: The strata comprised 53 participants with mild, 247 with moderate, and 26 with severe cognitive impairment; 39.3% of participants were illiterate or had ≤4 years of schooling. Cohort medians (ranges) were 15 (0–25) for the MMSE, 4 (0–10) for the CDT, and 5 (1–7) for the Reisberg GDS. In the mild and moderate strata, respectively, 30.2% and 30.0% of MMSE scores and 26.4% and 27.5% of Reisberg stages lay outside the approximate reference bands. Conclusions: Because MMSE and Reisberg information contributed to the classification, the assessor was not blinded, and the severe stratum was small, these descriptive results cannot establish diagnostic discrimination or comparative measurement performance.
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BibTeX
@article{popa2026score,
title = {{Score Distributions of the Mini-Mental State Examination, Clock Drawing Test, and Reisberg Global Deterioration Scale Across Operational Cognitive Impairment Severity Strata in Romanian Primary Care: A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study}},
author = {Elena Popa and Raluca Ecaterina Haliga and Eric Oliviu Coșovanu and Carmen Liliana Barbacariu and Monica Iuliana Ungureanu and Mihaela Poroch and Mihaela Roxana Barbu and Elena Adorata Coman},
journal = {Journal of Clinical Medicine},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/jcm15207815},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/15/20/7815},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Score Distributions of the Mini-Mental State Examination, Clock Drawing Test, and Reisberg Global Deterioration Scale Across Operational Cognitive Impairment Severity Strata in Romanian Primary Care: A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study
AU - Elena Popa
AU - Raluca Ecaterina Haliga
AU - Eric Oliviu Coșovanu
AU - Carmen Liliana Barbacariu
AU - Monica Iuliana Ungureanu
AU - Mihaela Poroch
AU - Mihaela Roxana Barbu
AU - Elena Adorata Coman
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/10
JO - Journal of Clinical Medicine
DO - 10.3390/jcm15207815
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/15/20/7815
AB - Background/Objectives: The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Clock Drawing Test (CDT), and Reisberg Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) are used together in primary care. This study describes their score distributions across operational severity strata in a Romanian cohort. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study of a selected cohort of 326 adults aged ≥50 years with suspected cognitive impairment in three family medicine practices in Iași. One unblinded clinician administered all instruments and assigned the strata by integrated clinical assessment of functional status, MMSE performance, and Reisberg GDS staging, with approximate reference bands for both scales. Scores and their positions relative to these bands were summarised descriptively. Results: The strata comprised 53 participants with mild, 247 with moderate, and 26 with severe cognitive impairment; 39.3% of participants were illiterate or had ≤4 years of schooling. Cohort medians (ranges) were 15 (0–25) for the MMSE, 4 (0–10) for the CDT, and 5 (1–7) for the Reisberg GDS. In the mild and moderate strata, respectively, 30.2% and 30.0% of MMSE scores and 26.4% and 27.5% of Reisberg stages lay outside the approximate reference bands. Conclusions: Because MMSE and Reisberg information contributed to the classification, the assessor was not blinded, and the severe stratum was small, these descriptive results cannot establish diagnostic discrimination or comparative measurement performance.
SN - 2077-0383
ER -