[Clinical utility of three evaluation instruments for persons with dementia].

Background: Occupational therapists are increasingly involved in the diagnostic process of cognitive impairment in the elderly.

Purpose: Three tools designed to facilitate the evaluation process were examined in order to document their diagnostic qualities and the nature of the association between their results: the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Protocole d'examen cognitif de la personne âgée (PECPA-2r) and the Système de mesure de l'autonomie fonctionnelle (SMAF).

Methods: A cross-sectional correlative study was used in order to document the association between the results obtained with the three tools when they were used with aging adults referred to the project by their attending physician.