Characteristic differences in the mini-mental state examination used in Asian countries.

BACKGROUND: The mini-mental state examination (MMSE) was adapted by individual countries according to their languages and cultures, though it has not been systematically compared. The objective of this study was to compare the linguistic and cultural variations of the MMSE used in various Asian countries. With this, we can analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the MMSE and consider using a common version in future international clinical studies in Asia.
METHODS: We collected the MMSEs used in 11 Asian nations. After translating those into English, we compared them to understand the differences in the questionnaires with regard to cultural aspects.
RESULTS: Many items may be applicable or comparable with a little modification, for Asian countries. However, attention and calculation and repetition may be incomparable. There were some differences in the contents and the ways to administer.
CONCLUSIONS: The lack of consideration of the cultural differences and their influences on the interpretation of the same cognitive test makes cross-cultural studies difficult. Some items of MMSE tasks need readjusting for, if any, multi-national studies. This study might serve as a first step in the development of a standardized cross-cultural cognitive instrument, especially in Asia.

Background

The Mini–Mental State Examination (MMSE) was originally developed by Folstein et al. in 1975, to differentiate organic from functional psychiatric patients [1], and the standard MMSE form is currently used with minor subsequent modifications by the authors, based on its original conceptualization. The MMSE requires no specialized equipment or training for administration, and has both validity and reliability for the diagnosis and longitudinal assessment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) [1, 2]. Although there are some reported disadvantages including that it is affected by demographic factors such as age and education, and it has problematic items to administer in other languages with the lack of standardization [2-4], the MMSE is still used extensively in clinical and research settings to measure cognitive impairment or to screen for dementia. It is also used to estimate the severity and progression of cognitive impairment and to follow the course of cognitive changes in an individual over time.

With the increase in the aged population, dementia, which can cause disability in older adults, is gradually increasing the great economic burden in many countries [5]. In particular, the Asian population in 2009 was estimated at 4 billion, comprising 59% of the total global population of 6.8 billion [6]. In 2005, a study using the Delphi method reported that 60% of all dementia patients live in developing countries, and China, India, Japan, and Indonesia are among the top 7 countries with the largest number of dementia patients [7]. Therefore, many researchers have proposed clinical trials aimed at reducing the burden of dementia in Asia, and many collaborative studies are currently being planned and conducted in Asian societies [8].

Multi-national studies have to consider cultural variations and cross-cultural comparisons [9, 10]. Collaborative cross-cultural research is especially difficult in Asia due to the drastically different languages, ethnicities, and customs. One cross-cultural study, which was “a multi-national study to identify treatment discontinuation rate in de novo patients with Alzheimer’s disease who have been newly prescribed with donepezil in Asia” (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02262975), assessed 41 centers from 11 countries with a feasibility questionnaire screening for dementia. All of the centers (41 centers, 100%) used the MMSE [1], which is a commonly used, brief screening test for dementia. However, disadvantages of the MMSE include the need to adjust scores for age, education, and ethnicity [2-4]. In multi-national clinical trials, patients with the different severities of dementia can be recruited in the different countries by the same MMSE. Notably, the MMSEs were adapted by individual countries taking into account their languages and cultures, though the different versions of the MMSEs were not systematically compared.

The primary objective of this study was to compare the linguistic and cultural variations of the MMSE used in various Asian countries. With this, we can analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the MMSE and consider using a common version in future international clinical studies in Asia. This can be the first step for the Asian version of MMSE if needed.

Methods

We collected the different versions of MMSE used in 11 Asian nations. Further information on the MMSEs was available by searching databases including MEDLINE (PubMed), SCOPUS, PsycINFO, EBSCO, or GOOGLE. The MMSEs were available from China (Chinese) [11], Hong Kong (Chinese & English) [12], India (Hindi) [13], Indonesia (Indonesian) [14], Japan (Japanese) [15], Korea (Korean) [16], Malaysia (Malay) [17], the Philippines (English with a few Tagalog words) [18], Singapore (English with Chinese and Malay phases) [19], Taiwan (Chinese) [20], and Thailand (Thai) [21]. The MMSE questionnaires were written using a given country’s domestic languages. We translated all 11 versions of the MMSE back into English and compared them to understand the differences in the questionnaires with regard to cultural aspects in Asian countries.

First, we compared the contents in 5 domains (orientation to time and orientation, registration and recall, attention and calculation, and language and visuospatial function) across the 11 versions of MMSE, and then summarized the modifications (Table 1). The difference in the ways of administering the tests was also compared.

Table 1

Comparison of individual items in 11 versions of the MMSE used in Asia

	China	Hong Kong	India	Indonesia	Japan	Korea	Malaysia	The Philippines	Singapore	Taiwan	Thailand
Time orientation (5) a
Year			M, A, Eb
Month
Day
Date
Season							Time		Festival	Alternativesc
Place orientation (5) d
Country	Department	Place nature	Post office		Prefecture
Province		Region	District		Region			Street (barangay)	District
City		District	Village			Place nature			Landmark
Hospital		Building	Block (zip code)			Place name	Building	Place name
Floor			Place name
Registration (3) and Recall (3)	Rubber ball	Apple	Mango	Apple	any threee	Plane	any threee	Mango	Pen	any threee	Flower
	National flag	Newspaper	Chair	Table		Pencil		Table	Apple		River
	Tree	Train	Coin	Coin		Pine tree		Money	Cat		Train (tree, ocean, car)f
Attention and Calculation (5)	Serial 7’s	Serial 7’s or		Serial 7’s or	Serial 7’s or	Serial 7’s	Serial 7’s or		Serial 7’s or	Serial 7’s	Serial 7’s or
					Serial 5’s or		Serial 3’s from 20 or
		Digit span	Name,	Spell	Spell		Spell	Spell	Spell		Spell
		backwards	Date	“WAHYU”	“Fujinoyama”		“WORLD”	“KARNE”	“WORLD”		“MANĀW”
			backwards	backwards (means revelation)	backwards		backwards	backwards (means meat)	backwards		backwards (means lemon)
Language and Visuospatial function (9)
Naming (2)			touch g
Pencil	Pen		Pen			Ballpoint pen				any twoh
Watch				Book
Repeat (1)
	“Si shi si zhi shi zi”	“Yi fu mai yu chang”	“Na tō yaha na hī vaha”	“Namun, tanpa, bila”	“Min’na de, ryokuo awasete tsunao hikimasu”	“Baek mun e bul yeo il geoun”	“Tak mungkin dan cukup mustahil”	“Minikaniko ni monikaang makina”	“Marah, merah, murah”	Randomk	“Cry- cry –kai- ggai –kai”
(meaning)	(It is forty-four stone lions.)	(Uncle is buying fish guts.)i	(neither this nor that: proverb)	(However, without, if)	(Everyone, pull the rope to fit the power.)	(Seeing is believing.)	(No, it is impossible.)	unknown (tongue-twister)	(angry, red, cheap)j		(who, desire, chicken, egg)
Command (3)
Take a paper in your right hand,	in your right hand			in your hand		Turn the paper		with your non-dominant hand		in your left hand
fold it in half, and
put it on the floor (table).	on your thigh	on your lap	give it to me	on the floor	on the desk	give it to me	put it on the floor	on your lap		give it to me
Reading (1)			follow l
Writing (1)			(no score)m
Inter-locking pentagons (1)			3 pointsm

aOrder of items asked could be changed

bInstead of the year, a question about the time of day is asked, i.e., morning (M), afternoon (A), or evening (E)

cAlternatives are lunar feasts, current time, and morning, noon, afternoon, or evening, etc

dOrder of items asked could be changed

eAny three unrelated words could be used

fIf the questionnaire was administered to the same respondent a second time within 2 months

gRespondents could touch objects

hAny two objects were selected

iIn Hong Kong, the English version used “No ifs, ands, or buts”

jIn Singapore, the English version used “No ifs, ands, or buts” and the Chinese version used “Si shi si zhi shi shi zi”

kAny random sentence could be used

lRespondents followed the researcher’s speech

mIn India, there was no score for the writing item. Instead, the drawing item consisted of a diamond within a square and was scored out of 3 points

Results

Comparison of content across the 11 versions of the MMSE used in Asia

The MMSE test includes items assessing orientation, word recall and registration, attention and calculation, and language and visuospatial abilities [1]. All 11 versions included all these domains.

Orientation to time (5 points)

The traditional MMSE inquires about time by asking the respondent about the date (month, day, and year) and the season. Contrary to the habitual use of the Western calendar, some Asian nations use 24 seasonal divisions according to the lunar calendar. In addition, some nations in Southeast Asia have no seasonal changes. Thus, changes were made to the questionnaire as needed. In Taiwan, respondents could report the recent or upcoming feasts from the lunar calendar. Furthermore, when the season was not relevant, questions probed respondents as to whether it was morning, noon, afternoon, or evening. In Malaysia, the question about the season was replaced with time, and Singapore replaced it with the knowledge of an upcoming festival. In India, the question regarding the year was replaced with whether it was morning, afternoon, or evening.

Orientation to place (5 points)

Orientation to place requires familiarity with the Western style addresses in the traditional MMSE [3]. Some questions were changed to reflect the geographical/political nomenclature of the study location; that is, rather than a direct translation for “state, province, or city,” the names of the administrative districts in the individual countries were used.

It seems it was difficult to generate 5 distinct questions about the place orientation in small countries. In Singapore, which is a city-country, the only correct answer to the question about the city was Singapore, which is also the country name, so some questions were replaced with knowledge of a nearby landmark instead of a city and with the district instead of the province. China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand did not ask the name of the country, because the name of the country would be a test of common knowledge, not of place orientation. Especially, Taiwan presented a more generous set of questions, where the examiner could choose the 5 most appropriate questions out of 8 total questions according to where the test was performed (at home or clinic). The Taiwanese questions were: 1) What do you do in this place?; 2) Which department?; 3) What floor?; 4) Name of the building; 5) Location of the hospital; 6) District; 7) Town; and 8) Street. In addition, Thailand had two kinds of versions depending on where the test took place. At the hospital, the questions included, 1) What is the name of this place and what do you do in this place?; 2) What floor?; 3) District, province; 4) Town; and 5) Which part? At the patient’s home, 1) Area/address; 2) Town, street, and district; 3) Province; 4) Rural, and 5) Which part?

Registration (3 points) & recall (3 points)

The “3 objects” used in the registration/recall test were different across many versions of the MMSE. The original English version also does not specify the 3 objects to be used for the test. Each country had different standardized appointed objects except Japan, Malaysia, and Taiwan, where the examiner chose any 3 unrelated objects. All countries used concrete nouns but not abstract words such as love, cold, sweet, and beauty. In the instructions, examiners choose what a subject has experienced or used in everyday life and avoid unrealistic words. Things within the field of the test environment were excluded, as far as possible, which eliminate the clues that the subjects can remember. It is recommended to use the specific objects with different types (e.g. nose, car, sun). However, it is not recommended that objects that are too similar or too closely related such as “nose, eye, mouth”, “train, car, ship” or “star, moon, sun”, are not used. Since the test is performed based on listening, homonymous words such as “flower” or “flour” and “ant” or “aunt” are not used to cause confusion. In Thailand, a different set of objects was used if the patient was administered the test a second time within 2 months (e.g., flower, river, and train the first time and tree, ocean, and car the second time).

Attention and calculation (5 points)

Although either spelling the word “WORLD” backwards or serial sevens were originally used [22, 23], serial sevens have been suggested to be more appropriate to a non-native English population [24]. Accordingly, serial sevens were most often used in the Asian MMSEs. China, Korea, and Taiwan performed only serial sevens, though some countries used serial sevens or spelling backwards; Indonesia used “WAHYA” meaning revelation, Japan used “Fujinoyama” meaning Fuji Mountain, Thailand used “MANĀW” meaning lemon, and Singapore and Malaysia used “WORLD”. Instead of serial sevens, serial fives (Japan), serial threes from 20 (Malaysia), or digit span backwards from 42,731 (Hong Kong) were used. In the Philippines, only spelling “KARNE,” meaning meat in Filipino language, backwards was used, and in India, respondents had to name the date backwards.

Language and visuospatial function (9 points)

There are 6 components in this domain: naming, reading, writing, repetition, motor skill, and visuospatial function.

Naming a pencil and a watch (2 points)

This was almost the same in all versions of the MMSE. However, in Taiwan, the examiner let the respondent name any two objects that the subject seemed to have previously experienced and, in India, naming after touching the objects with the hand was also accepted. Pencil and watch were used in general, although some countries used other objects. Instead of a pencil, a ballpoint pen was used in Korea, a fountain pen was used in China, and a pen was used in India. A book instead of a watch was used in Indonesia.

Repetition, speaking back a phrase: “no ifs, ands, or buts” (1 point)

“No ifs, ands, or buts” is not an easily translated phrase. When translated into other languages, its articulation complexity can be lost. Furthermore, the phrase may be unfamiliar in many countries as it is linguistically irregular [25, 26]. Instead of a direct translation of “No ifs, ands, or buts,” each country used a non-familiar phrase or a sentence with a different meaning and pronunciation, as appropriate. India and Korea used a type of proverb, and China, the Philippines, and Thailand used a type of a tongue-twister. In Taiwan, the examiner chose any sentence that came to his or her mind during the test. However, using other phrases may assess a different cognitive domain, and the validity of this item is questioned.

Completing a three-stage command (3 points)

In the original command, respondents are required to take a paper with their right hand. The standardized version provides more specific instructions, i.e., to take the paper with the non-dominant hand (if right-handed, the respondent is asked to use the left hand, and vice versa) [22].

Many countries let the respondent take the paper with the right hand. However, in the Philippines, the examiner asked the respondent to take it with the non-dominant hand, Taiwan with the left hand, and the Indonesian version did not specify which hand; China, Hong Kong, and the Philippines instructed the respondent to place the paper on the lap, instead of the floor or the table. In India, Korea, and Taiwan, the respondent was asked to give the paper back to the examiner, not to place it on the table. In Korea, respondents were asked to turn the paper over instead of taking the paper.

Reading (1 point)

This section was almost the same for all versions of the MMSE. In the traditional version, the patient is asked to read and obey a written command on a paper stating, “Close your eyes.” However, in India, the respondent was asked to imitate the examiner’s facial expression, not follow a written command.

Writing (1 point)

The patient is asked to write a sentence with at least a subject and a verb, and this section was also almost always the same. However, this test was not included in the total score in India.

Copying interlocking pentagons (1 point)

This was almost the same in all versions of the MMSE. However, in India, a diamond within a square was used with 3 points. Having no points for writing, the total score in India was 31 points instead of 30 points (2 additional points for drawing and 1 less point for writing).

Summary of the modifications

A summary of the modifications is shown below with possible reasons/justifications.

1) Regarding orientation to time, the traditional MMSE inquires about the season; however, there are no astronomical seasons in some countries. Thus, the question on seasons was replaced with questions such as the current time of day or cognizance of an upcoming festival. Taiwan used knowledge of recent or upcoming feasts on the lunar calendar.

2) Because of the different administrative districts used, the individual name of the administrative district of their country was used. Some countries did not ask the name of the country, because the name of the country could be a test of common knowledge, not for place orientation. In Taiwan and Thailand, the examiner selected appropriate questions according to the place the test was administered, at hospital or home.

3) For registration and recall, each country used unrelated, specified objects according to the words or syllables of their language. In Thailand, a different set of objects was appointed if the patient repeated the test a second time within 2 months.

4) Regarding attention and calculation, the traditional MMSE asked respondents to spell the word “WORLD” backwards or perform serial sevens. However, spelling “WORLD” backwards may be inappropriate where English is not the first language. Instead, countries used another word, phrase, or sentence with 5 syllables. Serial sevens may be less relevant to other cultural groups [27]; hence, it was eliminated in some versions.

5) Among items of the language and related functions, first, for repetition, instead of the original phrase, “No ifs, ands, or buts,” many other language versions used a phrase or a sentence with a different meaning and pronunciation. Second, many people in Asia tend to think it is polite to take with both two hands in when they receive something from a stranger. Korean version requires the respondent to turn the paper, instead of taking it with the right hand. Next, the Hindi MMSE awarded no points for writing and 3 instead of 1 point for drawing, so the total score in India was 31 points instead of 30 points.

6) On the whole, scores of time and place orientation, registration and recall, and visuospatial and related functions excluding repeat may be applicable for many Asian countries. Other items are also be comparable with a little modification, if needed. However, attention and calculation (5 points) and repeat (1 point) may be incomparable and need readjusting for, if any, multi-national studies in Asia.

Discussion

It is difficult to compare older adults with different cultural backgrounds using the same cognitive measures. In addition, diverse language and culture cannot be overcome through a simple, direct translation of the instrument. Direct literal translations may have different meanings or syllables from the original instrument. Thus, many countries developed their MMSE versions according to their cultures and languages. In general, scores of time and place orientation, registration and recall, and visuospatial and related functions excluding repeat may be applicable and alike for many Asian countries. Others can also be comparable with a little modification, if needed. However, attention and calculation (5 points) and repeat (1 point) may be incomparable and need readjusting for, if any, multi-national studies in Asia.

There are many different countries, languages, ethnicities, and cultural differences in Asia. Asia also includes countries with no written language and one nation with many languages. Many Asian nations developed their MMSEs by translating the original English MMSE and modifying it according to their languages and cultures. In addition, there are sometimes different versions of the MMSE within the same country. For example, China and other countries have various versions of the MMSE [28-31]. Moreover, in Korea, different versions of the MMSE were developed by different groups [16, 32, 33]. Furthermore, as time goes by, revised and modified versions of the MMSE are derived [34–37, 40]. This study is limited in that we selected only one version of the MMSE per country for comparison.

In addition to the cultural and language differences, demographic factors such as age and education also should be considered. Previous studies have reported that the MMSE total score was affected by age and education, and normative data were provided for age and education [2, 38–40]. In a Korean version of the MMSE (MMSE-K) [34], 4 additional points were given to illiterate patients. Other versions of the Korean MMSE used the mean scores according to age and education level [16, 35, 36]. Other Asian versions have used different cut-off scores with mean scores adjusted for education, age, or sex. In the Chinese version [11] included in this study, cut-off scores for illiterate was ≤19; for elementary level ≤ 22; for high educational level ≤ 26. The sensitivity was 90.7% in the urban area; 97.1% in the rural area. At the cut-off score of 19/20 of the Cantonese MMSE of Hong Kong, sensitivity was 97.5% and specificity was 97.3% [12]. Illiterates were included 46.3% and mean education period was 3.5 ± 7.9 years. In the Hindi MMSE, a subject is classified as impaired if he/she scores 19 or less on the test, and/or obtains scores at or below the 10th percentile on a memory test and at least one other test [41]. In a study on 100 illiterate elderly subjects, the Hindi MMSE was 94% sensitive and 98% specific [42]. Cut-off score used in the Indonesian MMSE was 24 [43]. MMSE score at or below 24 was classified as cognitive dysfunction/dementia. This showed sensitivity 88% and specificity 96%. Cut-off score was 18 for 0–6 years of education and 25 for >6 years of education. The Japanese MMSE used in this study [44], score less than 23 was classified as cognitive impairment. In a current study, MMSE had an excellent sensitivity (97%) and good specificity (89%) for screening AD at the cut-off point of 28/29, but it had poor specificity (58%) for screening MCI at the cut-off point of 29/30) [45]. In Malaysia, cut-off score was 22 with sensitivity 88.5% and specificity 75.3% [17]. In the Philippines [46], the subjects were identified to have dementia if they scored 23 or less on the MMSE. To adjust for education bias, a cut-off score of 17 or less was used for those who attained primary level of education. The Singapore MMSE [19] compared in this study was validated in 1092 community living Asians from Singapore. There were significant ethnic differences in the total score between Chinese, Malays and Indians in the non-educated participants. At a cut-off score of 23/24, sensitivity was 97.5% and specificity was 75.6%. Specificity decreased with lower education levels. In Taiwan [20], Normal cognition results were defined as a score > 24 in literate elders and >13 in illiterate elders. The MMSE-Thai 2002 [21] of Thai MMSEs was compared in this study, and the suggested cut-off score was ≤14 for illiterates, ≤ 17 for elementary school, and ≤22 for over elementary school.

Instruments are often considered different from the original version once after they have been culturally and linguistically adapted [39]. For example, in the Hindi Mental State Exam (HMSE) [13], 16 of the original items were changed to adapt for rural older adults in India, who have little or no education. Another 3 Korean versions of the MMSE (not included in this analysis) measured judgment instead of reading and writing with 2 questions [34-36], “Why do you clean your clothes?” and “How do you give back another’s belongings when you get them by chance?” or a Korean proverb, “What does it mean that many a little make a mickle [a large amount]?”.

Some new tests without cultural bias have also been attempted [3, 47]. These culture-free tests could enable older adults to demonstrate their cognitive abilities fully regardless of language, education, and so on. However, these new culture-free tests require further validations, especially in Asia, which has various languages, religions, and ethnicities, even in the same country. Currently, the lack of understanding of the differences of various cultures and how these differences may affect the interpretation of the same cognitive test, such as MMSE, makes multinational, cross-cultural studies difficult. Any international version of the MMSE that accounts for differences in cultures may be needed for an optimal cross-cultural study. This study serves to help understand how individual cultures adapt one cognitive test to best suit their needs. It serves as a first step in the development of a standardized cross-culturally sensitive cognitive instrument, especially in Asia.

Conclusions

The MMSEs used in Asian countries showed many differences in the contents and the ways to administer, although many items may be applicable or comparable with a little modification. Some items of MMSE tasks need readjusting for, if any, multi-national studies. No consideration of the cultural differences and their influences on the interpretation of the same cognitive test makes cross-cultural studies difficult. This study might serve as a first step in the development of a standardized cross-cultural cognitive instrument, especially in Asia.