Mini-mental state examination and wechsler memory scale subtest of logical memory: Correlation in an over 70-year-old population

Summary rrelation between the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and the logical memory (LM) subtest of the Wechsler memory scale (WMS) was evaluated in a group of healthy Italians, aged seventy and over, with no significant cognitive impairment. A horizontal study was carried out using 146 subjects (126 women and 20 men; mean age 72.7 ±3.7 years) who enrolled consecutively in the exercise courses for the elderly organized by the Municipality of Torino. A statistically significant correlation was found between the average total MMSE score and the LM score (r = 0.4315, p < 0.001) of the entire sample. This correlation was found even after dividing the sample into two groups based on the presence or absence of self-perceived memory impairment. When each domain of the MMSE (orientation, registration, attention, recall, language) was compared singly to the total LM score, a statistically significant correlation was found for all the domains except orientation. These results indicate that the LM subtest of the WMS can be a useful tool for the rapid investigation of cognitive impairment in otherwise healthy geriatric subjects presenting with memory defects, without any loss of autonomy.