The Modified Thai Mental State Examination (MTMSE) for Thai Illiterate Subjects with no formal education

Abstract

The author has developed the "Modified Thai Mental State Examination (MTMSE)" for illiterate Thai people. The test is adapted from the "Thai Mental State Examination (TMSE)". The total possible score of the MTMSE is 29 points and it contains six basic subtests concerning orientation (6 points), registration (3 points), attention (5 points), calculation (3 points), language (9 points) and recall (3 points).
   This test was applied to 60 normal healthy olderly Thais with no formal education, aged between 60-70 years living in Ampur Cho-I-rong, Narathiwat Province. The mean total score of the MTMSE was 21.97 (standard deviation 3.41) points. The out-off point for the diagnosis of normality in healthy elderly Thai using the MTMSE was over 15 points. The score was calculated by the mean total score minus by double standard deviation of the mean (mean-2SD). There was only one Thai elderly subject (0.02%) who got a full score of 29 in the MTMSE test. The subtest scored lowest was recall (33.41% of total score losts). No individual lost scores in the registration subtest.
   The Modified Thai Mental State Examination (MTMSE) is a quick (mean test duration was 15.78 minutes) and applicable to illiterate Thai in rural areas of Thailand.