Evaluating for Cognitive Assessment and Racial Disparities

More than 50% of nursing home residents experience some degree of cognitive impairment. The Brief Interview for Mental Status (BIMS) has been used as part of the Minimum Data Set 3.0 to screen nursing home residents for cognitive impairment. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) mandated the BIMS to be used across all post-acute care settings starting in October 2010. Though used as the current standard of care, studies have shown that the BIMS is not sensitive in detecting milder forms of cognitive impairment, whereas the Saint Louis University Mental Status (SLUMS) has been shown to be comparable in reliability and validity to the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).