Objective: Evaluation of the predictive power of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) for survival analyses of dementia patients.
Methods: In an 8-year follow-up study for 145 dementia outpatients the survival and relative death risks (hazard ratios) were calculated with Kaplan Meier and Cox-regression analyses.
Results: Following Cox-regression the relative death risk increases by 36.2 % per severity level of dementia (mild / moderate / severe), p = 0.023. Per single MMSE point lost, the relative death risk rises by 4.1 % (p = 0.005). Kaplan Meier analysis supports the result.
Conclusions: MMSE scores may in fact be used for dementia survival prognoses in counseling family and professional caregivers of dementia patients, but also for socioeconomic management of the increasing dementia burden for society.