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SLUMS-Screening for Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults [Explained]

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St. Louis University Mental Status (SLUMS) Examination
This tool was created to automate the scoring of  the 'Saint Louis University Mental Status (SLUMS) Exam.1    This assessment tool was developed at the Division of Geriatric Medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine in affiliation with the Veterans Association.  It was initially developed as a screening tool for detecting mild cognitive impairment in a veteran population, however, it is now used in several other patient populations. 2   This examination has been found to measure up to the popular Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA)3  and has also been shown to be superior to the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) in the detection of early dementia.4  For additional information, please visit the primary source of this tool.

[Our findings suggest that the SLUMS may be an appropriate measure to use as a screening tool among older adults and may have fewer ceiling effects than the MMSE] 2

[Smaller Polish study: Usefulness of the SLUMS test for diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment and dementia- according to statistical analysis it demonstrates superior capabilities in the screening diagnosis compared to the most famous scale used in Poland - MMSE] 5  
Education level:   led
  1.  What day of the week is it?  

  2. What is the year? 

  3. What state are we in?

  4. Please remember these five objects. I will ask you what they are later.
    Apple,  Pen,  Tie, House, Car

  5. You have $100 and you go to the store and buy a dozen apples for $3 and a tricycle for $20.
        How much did you spend? 

        How much do you have left? 
  6. Please name as many animals as you can in one minute.
    0-4 animals
    5-9 animals
    10-14 animals
    15+ animals
     
  7. What were the five objects I asked you to remember?
      1 point for each one correct.    (Apple,  Pen,  Tie, House, Car)
  8. I am going to give you a series of numbers and I would like you to give them to me backwards.   For example, if I say 42, you would say 24.  [Check if correct]
           87       649      8537

    For questions 9 and 10, print the following page.
    slums
  9. This is a clock face. Please put in the hour markers and the time at ten minutes to eleven o’clock.    [Check if correct]
    Hour markers okay 
    Time correct

  10.  [Check if correct]
    Please place an X in the triangle. 
    Which of the above figures is largest? 

  11. I am going to tell you a story. Please listen carefully because afterwards, I’m going to ask you some questions about it.  
    Jill was a very successful stockbroker. She made a lot of money on the stock market. She then met Jack, a devastatingly handsome man. She married him and had three children. They lived in Chicago. She then stopped work and stayed at home to bring up her children. When they were teenagers, she went back to work. She and Jack lived happily ever after.

     [Check if correct]
    What was the female’s name? 
    What work did she do?
    When did she go back to work? 
    What state did she live in?

References
  1. Ellis, Kirsten. "Aging Successfully - Saint Louis University Mental Status (SLUMS) Exam". aging.slu.edu. Retrieved 2017-08-10. https://aging.slu.edu/index.php?page=saint-louis-university-mental-status-slums-exam

  2. Feliciano L, Horning SM, Klebe KJ, Anderson SL, Cornwell RE, Davis HP. Utility of the SLUMS as a cognitive screening tool among a nonveteran sample of older adults. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2013 Jul;21(7):623-30. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2013.01.024. Epub 2013 Feb 6.

  3. Cummings-Vaughn LA, Chavakula NN, Malmstrom TK, Tumosa N, Morley JE, Cruz-Oliver DM. Veterans Affairs Saint Louis University Mental Status examination compared with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and the Short Test of Mental Status. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2014 Jul;62(7):1341-6. doi: 10.1111/jgs.12874. Epub 2014 Jun 10.

    CONCLUSION: The SLUMS examination has validity similar to that of the MoCA and STMS for the detection of MCI, dementia, and MCI or dementia according to the CDR.


  4. Tariq SH, Tumosa N, Chibnall JT, Perry MH 3rd, Morley JE. Comparison of the Saint Louis University mental status examination and the mini-mental state examination for detecting dementia and mild neurocognitive disorder--a pilot study. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2006 Nov;14(11):900-10. [Pubmed]

    CONCLUSION:
    These results suggest that the SLUMS and MMSE have comparable sensitivities, specificities, and area under the curve in detecting dementia. Although the definition of MNCD is controversial, the authors believe that the SLUMS is possibly better at detecting mild neurocognitive disorder, which the MMSE failed to detect, but this needs to be further investigated.

  5. Szcześniak D, Rymaszewska J.   The usefulness of the SLUMS test for diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment and dementia.  Psychiatr Pol. 2016;50(2):457-72. doi: 10.12740/PP/OnlineFirst/43141.

    The SLUMS is not just another screening tool that can complement the range of existing cognitive tests in Polish clinical practice, but according to statistical analysis it demonstrates superior capabilities in the screening diagnosis compared to the most famous scale used in Poland - MMSE

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