Influence of impending death on the mini-mental state examination

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dc.contributor.authorTan, Jing Eeen_US
dc.contributor.supervisorStrauss, Esther.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2008-04-10T05:59:21Z
dc.date.available2008-04-10T05:59:21Z
dc.date.copyright2004en_US
dc.date.issued2008-04-10T05:59:21Z
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of Psychology
dc.description.abstractA cross-sectional, retrospective study, using data from the Victoria Longitudinal Study, was conducted to investigate the impact of impending death on test performance on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), a measure of general cognitive functioning. Test score on the MMSE of individuals collected between one to five years before death was compared to the MMSE test score of individuals who are still alive. Results revealed a significant difference between the MMSE total score of individuals who died within three years post-measurement and survivors, and those who died between three to five years after measurement. When the individual items were analyzed, only the "WORLD" and "copy pentagon" items obtained results similar to the total score, providing support for the specificity of impending death effect on fluid abilities. The cause of death (CardioKerebro-vascular disease and non-CardioICerebro-vascular disease), however, did not differentiate the groups, suggesting that the mechanism of impending death may not be disease-related. Our results revealed that the influence of impending death on cognitive functioning could be observed on the MMSE; the source of the influence is still unknown, however. Despite the statistical significance, our findings did not appear to be clinically meaningful. As a result, our findings suggest that it may not be necessary to collect new normative data that are removed of the effects of impending death.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/527
dc.subject.lcshCognition disorders in old ageen_US
dc.subject.lcshDeath -- Psychological aspectsen_US
dc.titleInfluence of impending death on the mini-mental state examinationen_US

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