Cognitive Screening Instruments for Older Adults With Low Educational and Literacy Levels: A Systematic Review
Journal of Applied Gerontology
Pellicer-Espinosa, I., & Díaz-Orueta, U. (2022).
Journal of Applied Gerontology, 41(4), 1222-1231.
This systematic review investigates the validity of cognitive screening tools for detecting mild cognitive impairment and dementia in adults, 50 years and older, with low educational levels (i.e., a maximum of 8 formal schooling years).
No funding received
From database inception to April 22, 2020
Cross-sectional designs; prospective designs
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<div>For adults with low literacy levels and limited formal education, the authors found that the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) demonstrates educational level biases and is unreliable and inappropriate due to the reading and writing tasks. Screening tools involving naming, orientation, and memory demonstrated fewer effects of educational level [i.e., the Eurotest, the Memory alteration test (M@T), the Fototest, the Test of associative memory-93 (TMA-93), the Leganes Cognitive Test, and the Five Digit Test]. Informant questionnaires [i.e., the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE), the Bedford Alzheimer Nursing Severity Scale(BANS-S), and the Activities of daily life (ADL)/Instrumental ADL (IADL)] also showed less educational biases. The authors conclude that "there are still scarce validation studies of cognitive assessment tools in older adults with low educational level" (p. 1227). Additional research is warranted.</div>
