Few studies have investigated the measurement error of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in the same unit of measurement, also known as absolute reliability. This measurement can help determine whether an observed score change for an individual is likely to represent true change. The aim of this study was to investigate the absolute reliability of the MMSE among individuals with dementia that reside in nursing homes. Among 88 participants, 19 (21.6%) were men, 35 (39.8%) had Alzheimer’s disease, 35 (39.8%) had vascular dementia, and the mean age was 84.0 years (range 65–98). The participants were tested and retested with the MMSE within 1–6 days. Both tests were administered by the same assessor at the same time of day. The mean MMSE score was 13.7 (range 0–28). The absolute difference between MMSE scores varied from 0 to 6 points, and the differences did not correlate with the corresponding score means (p = 0.874). The smallest detectable change (SDC) between two measurements was 4.00. The SDC was independent of depression, impaired vision and hearing, delirium within the last week, dementia type and age. However, the SDC was 5.56 among men and 3.50 among women (p = 0.003). In conclusion, for individuals with dementia that reside in nursing homes, it seems like their MMSE score needs to change by four or more points between two measurements in order for their score change to be reliably higher than the measurement error.

很少有研究调查同一测量单位中的迷你精神状态检查（MMSE）的测量误差，也称为绝对可靠性。这种测量可以帮助确定观察到的个人分数变化是否可能代表真实的变化。这项研究的目的是调查居住在疗养院中的痴呆患者中MMSE的绝对可靠性。在88位参与者中，男性为19位（21.6％），阿尔茨海默氏病为35位（39.8％），血管性痴呆为35位（39.8％），平均年龄为84.0岁（范围65-98）。在1-6天内对参与者进行了MMSE的测试和重新测试。两项测试均由同一名评估员在一天的同一时间进行。MMSE平均得分为13.7（范围为0-28）。MMSE分数之间的绝对差从0分到6分不等，p  = 0.874）。两次测量之间的最小可检测变化（SDC）为4.00。SDC与抑郁症，视力和听力受损，上周内的del妄，痴呆类型和年龄无关。但是，男性的SDC为5.56，女性为3.50（p  = 0.003）。总之，对于居住在疗养院中的痴呆症患者，似乎他们的MMSE得分需要在两次测量之间改变四个或更多点，以使他们的得分变化可靠地高于测量误差。