Aim: Emotional functions, as well as cognitive functions, are critical factors to assess in the care and management for dementia patients. In addition to the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), we have developed a Mini-Emotional State Examination (MESE) for the examination of emotional functions in patients with dementia.
Methods: MESE consists of a two-part questionnaire. The first probes emotional functions within the five senses (visual, auditory, tactile, smell and taste). The second explores more complex and comprehensive emotional functions including feelings of tenderness, violence, happiness and sadness, as well as emotional responses to more general human, moral and social phenomena. The questionnaire comprises 30 questions and is scaled to a 30-point healthy maximum. A total of 40 dementia patients in Sendai Tomizawa Hospital were tested with MESE.
Results: MESE point scores were roughly parallel to the scores on the MMSE, but MESE scores were widely distributed, independent of MMSE score. MESE scores in nine patients exceeded 23 points.
Conclusion: The difference in distribution of MMSE and MESE scores show that cognitive and emotional functions are independently affected in dementia, and therefore assessment of both these functions should be cared taken into consideration in the care and management of dementia patients.
Keywords: Mini-Emotional State Examination; Mini-Mental State Examination; cognitive functions; dementia patients; emotional functions.
© 2014 Japan Geriatrics Society.