3MS normative data for elderly African Americans.

The Modified Mini-Mental State Examination (3MS) is an expanded and modified version of the Mini-Mental Status Exam (MMSE). Although the MMSE has achieved widespread clinical use as a brief cognitive screen, the utility of the measure to ascertain cognitive impairment is constrained by a limited set of abilities sampled, a narrow range of possible scores, floor and ceiling effects, and by a paucity of normative data for use with older adults from ethnically diverse backgrounds. Research demonstrates that the reliability, validity, and sensitivity of the 3MS are superior to that of the MMSE in detecting cognitive impairment. To date there has been minimal research investigating the usefulness of the 3MS with African American older adults. The current study examined the influence of demographic characteristics on the 3MS in a community-dwelling sample of 238 African American older adults (60-84 years). Age, gender, and education accounted for moderate amounts of variance in 3MS performance. Based on these results, normative tables for 3MS scores, stratified by age and with score adjustments for education and gender, are provided.