Screening for cognitive impairment in older general hospital patients: Comparison of the six-item cognitive impairment test with the mini-mental state examination. A reply

摘要

We read with interest the article by Tuijl et al. (Tuijl et al., 2011) and would support the use of the six-item cognitive impairment test (6CIT) screening test over the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) (Folstein et al., 1975). It offers considerable advantage in its brevity and although the MMSE is one of the most widely used cognitive tests, variability in results limits its utility (Nieuwenhuis-Mark, 2010). Even though the standardised MMSE (sMMSE) was developed a decade ago to maximise inter-rater agreement by standardising the method of administration, its use is not widespread (Molloy et al., 1991).