SLUMS Score for Cognitive Impairment
Screens patients with Alzheimer’s, other types of dementia or mild neurocognitive impairment.
Refer to the text below the calculator for more information on its administration and comparison to other similar screenings.
The Saint Louis University Mental Status Examination (SLUMS) score is a clinician-administered method of screening for Alzheimer’s, other types of dementia or mild neurocognitive impairment.
The score is also known as the Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or the Mild Neurocognitive Disorder (MNCD) and was designed as an alternative screening to the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).
The evaluation focuses on orientation, short-term memory, naming of animals, clock-drawing, calculations and recognition of geometric figures.
The SLUMS score interpretation provides different thresholds based on the education level of the patient.
Interpretation | High school education | Less than high school education |
Normal | 27 - 30 | 25 - 30 |
Mild neurocognitive disorder | 21 - 26 | 20 - 24 |
Dementia | 1 - 20 | 1 - 19 |
Send Us Your Feedback
Steps on how to print your input & results:
1. Fill in the calculator/tool with your values and/or your answer choices and press Calculate.
2. Then you can click on the Print button to open a PDF in a separate window with the inputs and results. You can further save the PDF or print it.
Please note that once you have closed the PDF you need to click on the Calculate button before you try opening it again, otherwise the input and/or results may not appear in the pdf.
About SLUMS Score
The Saint Louis University Mental Status Examination (SLUMS) score is a brief (7 minute) clinician-administered method of screening for Alzheimer’s, other types of dementia or mild neurocognitive impairment.
The score is also known as the Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or the Mild Neurocognitive Disorder (MNCD) and was designed as an alternative screening to the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).
The evaluation consists of 11 questions that test:
- Orientation (1, 2 and 3);
- Short-term memory (4, 7 and 11);
- Naming of animals (6);
- Calculations (5 and 8);
- Clock-drawing (9);
- Recognition of geometric figures and sizes (10).
The maximum number of points is 30, with a cut-off for normal cognitive function situated at 27 points (for high school educated subjects) and 25 (for less than high school education).
The SLUMS score interpretation provides different thresholds based on the education level of the patient.
Interpretation | High school education | Less than high school education |
Normal | 27 - 30 | 25 - 30 |
Mild neurocognitive disorder | 21 - 26 | 20 - 24 |
Dementia | 1 - 20 | 1 - 19 |
By comparison to the MMSE, the SLUMS was found to recognize groups of patients with mild cognitive problems that don’t yet rise to the level of dementia diagnosis.
SLUMS was also found to be significantly better at identifying dementia in its early stages (on a cohort of 58 nursing home residents), compared to the MMSE, the Short Test of Mental State (STMS) and the Test Your Memory (TYM) screening.
References
Original reference
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; 14(11):900-910.
Other references
Cruz-Oliver DM, Malmstrom TK, Roegner M, Tumosa N, Grossberg GT. Cognitive deficit reversal as shown by changes in the Veterans Affairs Saint Louis University Mental Status (SLUMS) examination scores 7.5 years later. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2014; 15(9).
Cruz-Oliver DM, Malmstrom TK, Allen CM, Tumosa N, Morley JE. The Veterans Affairs Saint Louis University mental status exam (SLUMS exam) and the Mini-mental status exam as predictors of mortality and institutionalization. J Nutr Health Aging. 2012; 16(7):636-641.
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; 21(7):623-630.
Specialty: Neurology
System: Nervous
Objective: Screening
No. Of Items: 11
Year Of Study: 2006
Abbreviation: SLUMS
Article By: Denise Nedea
Published On: July 6, 2020 · 12:00 AM
Last Checked: July 6, 2020
Next Review: July 6, 2025