Assessment and clinical implications of cognitive impairment in acutely ill geriatric patients using a revised simplified short-term memory recall test (STMT-R)

Background Cognitive dysfunction due to delirium or dementia is a common finding in acutely ill geriatric patients, but often remains undetected. A brief and sensitive clinical identification method could prevent errors or complications while evaluating the mental status of elderly patients. Aims To evaluate the usefulness and clinical implications of the revised simplified short-term memory recall test (STMT-R) in geriatric patients admitted in the emergency department; with age, gender, dementia history, serum albumin, underlying diseases and clinical outcome used as comparative factors. Methods Mini–mental state examination and STMT-R scores were initially compared and a positive correlation was observed ( r = 0.66, p