Pfeiffer Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ) Calculator
Score the Pfeiffer Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ): count the errors on 10 questions, adjust for education and read intact, mild, moderate or severe cognitive impairment.
How it works
Count the errors on 10 questions. Adjust: −1 error if only primary (grade) school education; +1 error if education beyond high school. Adjusted errors: 0–2 intact · 3–4 mild · 5–7 moderate · 8–10 severe intellectual impairment.
The Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (Pfeiffer, 1975) is a 10-question test of orientation, memory, current events and serial subtraction that takes about 5 minutes and needs no pencil and paper, which makes it useful at the bedside and in home visits. Errors, not correct answers, are counted, and the cut-offs are shifted by one error for people with little or a lot of formal education. Question 4 accepts the street address if the person has no telephone, and the president question can be replaced by the current head of government. A high error count should prompt a full cognitive and medical assessment.
Worked example
An 80-year-old with a secondary-school education gets the date, the current president and the serial subtraction wrong but answers the other seven correctly: SPMSQ = 3 / 10 errors, no education adjustment — mild intellectual impairment.
Frequently asked questions
How is the Pfeiffer test scored?
Count the incorrect answers out of 10. 0–2 errors is intact intellectual functioning, 3–4 mild, 5–7 moderate and 8–10 severe intellectual impairment, after allowing one more error for primary-school education only and one fewer for education beyond high school.
What counts as a correct date?
The day, month and year must all be correct for question 1. For question 6 the full date of birth is needed. For serial subtraction the whole series (17, 14, 11, 8, 5, 2) must be correct.
Is the Pfeiffer test the same as the MMSE?
No. The SPMSQ is shorter and verbal only; the MMSE (0–30) also tests writing, copying and following commands. Both are screens, not diagnoses.
What if the person has no telephone?
Ask for their street address instead — it is scored the same way.
Related calculators
Clinical decision tool for education and for use by trained clinicians alongside clinical judgement — not a diagnosis and not a substitute for medical assessment. Scores validated in specific populations may not apply to every patient.