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. 2025 Jun 28;37(1):196.
doi: 10.1007/s40520-025-03056-x.

A concise instrument for screening cognitive impairment: validation in a geriatric population

Ayse Dikmeer  1 , Suna Burkuk  2 , Pelin Unsal  2 , Mert Polat  3 , Cafer Balci  2 , Meltem Halil  2 , Mustafa Cankurtaran  2 , Burcu Balam Dogu  2
Affiliations

A concise instrument for screening cognitive impairment: validation in a geriatric population

Ayse Dikmeer et al. Aging Clin Exp Res. .

Abstract

Background: The Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ) is a brief instrument designed to evaluate cognitive impairment in older adults. This study evaluates the validity and reliability of the Turkish SPMSQ and determines optimal cut-off values.

Methods: Patients aged 65 years and older were enrolled consecutively. Following the translation and cultural adaptation procedure, the Turkish versions of the SPMSQ and Standardised Mini Mental State Examination (SMMSE) were administered to evaluate cognitive status. The SPMSQ's diagnostic accuracy was evaluated by calculating the area under ROC curve (AUC).

Results: A total of 197 patients were included, comprising 48 with dementia and 149 controls. In 67% of the study population, total education time was under five years. ROC analysis of the overall study population identified an optimal cut-off point of the SPMSQ for differentiating dementia at ≥ 4 errors, yielding a sensitivity of 83.3% and specificity of 90.6% (AUC: 0.949). The cut-off point was determined as ≥ 4 errors for patients with ≤ 5 years of education time (sensitivity: 87.2%, specificity: 84.9%, AUC: 0.933) and ≥ 3 errors for patients with > 5 years of education time (sensitivity: 100%, specificity: 98.2%, AUC: 0.997). The SPMSQ and SMMSE scores showed a significant positive correlation (r = 0.661, p < 0.001). The cut-off point for the SMMSE was ≤ 25, demonstrating 83.3% sensitivity and 97.3% specificity, with an AUC of 0.947. This was not statistically different from the SPMSQ AUC (p = 0.93).

Conclusion: The SPMSQ is a reliable instrument for dementia screening in older adults and is not inferior to SMMSE. These findings suggest that the SPMSQ can be effectively utilized in primary care and geriatric clinics as a quick and reliable cognitive screening tool, especially in populations with varying education levels.

Keywords: Cognitive screening; Dementia; Reliability and validity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval: Ethical approval was obtained from the Ankara Hacettepe University Department of Medicine clinical research ethics committee with the reference number of GO 22/225. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Consent to participate: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Consent to publish: Patients signed informed consent regarding publishing their data. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
ROC analysis for the SPMSQ in overall study population
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
ROC analysis for the SPMSQ according to education time
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Comparison of ROC curves for the SPMSQ and SMMSE
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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