Abstract
Background:: Mini-mental state examination (MMSE) scale measures cognition using specific elements that can be isolated, defined, and subsequently measured. This study was conducted with the aim to analyze the factorial structure of MMSE in a largely, illiterate, elderly population in India and to reduce the number of variables to a few meaningful and interpretable combinations. Methodology:: Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed post-hoc on the data generated by a research project conducted to estimate the prevalence of dementia in four geographically defined habitations in Himachal Pradesh state of India. Results:: Questions on orientation and registration account for high percentage of cumulative variance in comparison to other questions. Discussion:: The PCA conducted on the data derived from a largely, illiterate population reveals that the most important components to consider for the estimation of cognitive impairment in illiterate Indian population are temporal orientation, spatial orientation, and immediate memory.
Copyright
Association for Helping Neurosurgical Sick People. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Derivative-Non Commercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit.
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This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License, which permits unrestricted reproduction and distribution, for non-commercial purposes only; and use and reproduction, but not distribution, of adapted material for non-commercial purposes only, provided the original work is properly cited.
