Abstract

ARGIMON, Irani I. de Lima et al. Gender and education: a study through the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) in elderly. Aletheia [online]. 2012, n.38-39, pp.153-161. ISSN 1413-0394.

Population aging is a global concern, which requires preventive health measures to be adopted as soon as possible. This process is often accompanied by decline in cognitive abilities such as in memory and executive functions. The aim of this study is to analyze whether there are differences in the cognitive performance of elderly as measured by the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) in relation to gender and education. The design was cross-sectional and quantitative with 488 elderly of both sexes. The results indicated that elderly males had higher MMSE scores. In addition, those participants with more years of education also showed higher score on the MMSE. We emphasize the importance of studies concerning the variables that interfere with cognitive performance in elderly, as well as the early diagnosis of this problem to provide to this population effective treatment strategies.

Keywords : Elderly; Cognitive decline; MMSE.

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