We are in the beginning stages of testing our mother for dementia. Yesterday, her primary care conducted a cognitive test on her and the score was 11. She has been referred to another doctor for further testing. What do the numbers mean with the cognitive testing?
Yet it is individual. At the start, some may reqire extra help, light assistance, home help services etc.
Others will require much help, much assistance, prompts, maybe round the clock supervision.
When parents start to move backwards from independant to semi-indepenant, there are many options. Moving in with an adult child is not the only pathway.
While *family helps family* is a noble & worthy value to hold, 'helping' and being a 'fulltime caregiver' are very different things.
There are many ways to help.
Please keep this in mind.
Best of luck.
So many people get stuck thinking the 1st decision is the last decision and forget to be fluid with caregiving situations.
27–30 points: Typical cognitive function.
21–26 points: Mild cognitive impairment. This suggests some cognitive difficulties, but they may not be severe enough to interfere significantly with daily life.
1–20 points: Cognitive impairment or possible dementia.
For the MoCA test:
The MoCA website states ranges may be used to grade severity: – 18-25 = mild cognitive impairment, – 10-17= moderate cognitive impairment and – less than 10= severe cognitive impairment
The MME test, or Mini Mental Exam is as follows:
Interpretations. Any score of 24 or more (out of 30) indicates a normal cognition. Below this, scores can indicate severe (≤9 points), moderate (10–18 points) or mild (19–23 points) cognitive impairment. The raw score may also need to be corrected for educational attainment and age.
Assuming mom had one of the traditional tests, she falls in the moderate stage of cognitive impairment/dementia.
Good luck.
The Institute on Aging has free tests you can DIY at home: This from the internet:
"Free Cognitive Tests for Older Adults and Caregivers to Assess …
There are free cognitive tests for older adults and caregivers that can help you understand if your loved one is showing any actual signs, or if they are just forgetful. We want to emphasize that these are not actually diagnostic, and they shouldn’t be treated as strictly medical. See more"
Go through your favorite search engine and type in "Free cognitive tests for older adults and caregivers" and you will be able to pull some of these off. You can make a game of it.
One tests has only 12 questions. If your senior can do 11 that's great.
Some have 30. So a score of 11 would be not so good.
I hope the referral was made to a neuro-psyc specialist.
You are "in the process now" and will have to take it day at a time.
I hope that you are the MPOA and are in on the medical decisions as you go along.
I wish you luck and hope you'll update us.
Welcome to the Forum. We are here for your questions as you begin this process.