Pfeiffer Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire
Ten-question cognitive screen. Errors are counted and the threshold shifts with an education adjustment.
Updated · Methodology
About this calculator
The test takes a couple of minutes and needs no paper, pen or drawing, which is why Spanish primary care and home visits reach for it more often than for longer cognitive scales. Ten questions probe orientation, memory for personal data, remote memory and calculation. Errors rather than correct answers are counted: 0-2 intact, 3-4 mild impairment, 5-7 moderate, 8-10 severe. The Spanish adaptation by Martínez de la Iglesia in 2001 added an education adjustment, because questions about the head of government and serial subtraction do not sit equally with different schooling: one extra error is allowed without schooling and one fewer with higher education. This remains a screening test. It does not separate dementia from delirium or from the pseudo-deficit of depression, it catches early mild cognitive impairment poorly, and it does not assess executive function. A positive result leads to a full assessment, not to a diagnosis. Results in patients with hearing or speech impairment need cautious reading.
Source
Formula version: pfeiffer-1975-mdi-2001-v1
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