Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE)
What It Measures
The MMSE is the most widely used brief cognitive screen in medicine. It takes about ten minutes and produces a single number out of 30, which is why it appears in charts, research, and clinical trials everywhere.
Eleven questions and tasks cover orientation to time and place, registering three words, attention and calculation, recalling those three words, and language — naming, repeating a phrase, following a three-step command, reading, writing, and copying two interlocking pentagons. A score below 24 is the conventional threshold for cognitive impairment. Scores drop with age and with fewer years of schooling, so a raw number should be read against norms for the person's age and education.
Further Reading
Additional Notes
Licensing Notes: Forms are purchased per use.
Learn More: Three things worth knowing. A newer MMSE-2 exists with brief and expanded versions. Ceiling effects are substantial — one study found 71% of healthy controls and people with MCI scored 28 to 30, which is why the MMSE is a weak screen for mild cognitive impairment even though it performs well for dementia.
