Comparison between neuropsychological evaluation instruments for severe dementia.

Objective: To study the correlation between two tools for cognitive evaluation, Mini-Mental State Examination-severe (MMSE-s) and Severe Impairment Battery (SIB), and the Bristol Daily Activities Functional Scale.

Method: 50 patients from the Behavioral Neurology Section--EPM-UNIFESP--were evaluated. Mean age was 76.8+/-7.9 (range 57 to 95); 32% were males; mean education was 5.0+/-2.3 years (range 4 to 15); mean disease duration was 3.9+/-1.5 years (range 2 to 10).

Results: Preliminary results in a small sample drawn from the study group do indicate a difference between the three cognitive scales. SIB and MMSE-s had a better correlation with functional score than MMSE, and MMSE-s had a correlation slightly better than SIB.

Conclusion: These data indicate that it is possible to follow dementia patients up to severe stage as long as adequate instruments are used, and that there may be differences between scales with regard to sensitivity.