The Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire and Mini-Mental State Examination in low- and middle-income countries: correlational insights from a Vietnamese memory clinic sample.

UNLABELLED: In low- and middle-income countries, dementia awareness remains limited; behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are often misunderstood and underutilized in early screening.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the correlation between cognitive and behavioral symptoms using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) in a Vietnamese clinical sample.

METHODS: A total of 98 participants aged 40 and above with memory complaints were recruited from the outpatient dementia clinic at University Medical Center, Ho Chi Minh City. All participants underwent neurological and physical examinations, cognitive screening using the Vietnamese version of the MMSE, and behavioral assessment using the Vietnamese NPI-Q completed by caregivers. Brain imaging via computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was also performed. Participants were categorized based on MMSE scores, and correlations between MMSE and NPI-Q scores were analyzed.

RESULTS: BPSD was present in 95.9% of participants. Anxiety was most frequent in individuals with subjective memory complaints, while psychotic symptoms and apathy were more common in those with severe cognitive impairment. A moderate negative correlation was found between MMSE and NPI-Q scores.

CONCLUSION: The combined use of MMSE and NPI-Q, supported by brain imaging, may provide a practical approach for the initial screening of individuals with memory complaints, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where access to specialist resources is limited.