ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The authors investigated effects of gender, age and education on the MMSEK performances in a non-demented elderly rural population. METHODS: The MMSEK was administered to 617 non-demented elderly people aged 65 or more in a rural area. The effects on the total and subtest MMSEK scores of gender, age and education were analyzed by Student t-test, Pearson's correlation, oneway analysis of variance, analysis of covariance and stepwise multiple regression. RESULTS: The three independent variables showed significant influence on the total score, orientation in time, orientation in place, attention/calculation, language function and comprehension & judgement of the MMSEK. The three variables could account for 40.0% of the variance of the total MMSEK score. Of the MMSEK subtests, memory registration and memory recall were resistant to the variables. MMSEK scores of the female, the older people and the undereducated were even less. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of dementia seems not to influence on the variance of total MMSEK score in a population in which its prevalence is about 10%. Gender, age and education have significant effects on orientation in time, orientation in place, attention/calculation, language function and comprehension & judgement, while not on memory registration and memory recall. Female sex, old age and undereducation are thought to be risk factors for development of dementia.