The SLUMS exam is an 11-item cognitive screen from Saint Louis University for adults 60 and over. Its total, from 0 to 30, is read against cutoffs that depend on whether the person finished high school. See how it’s scored, what each range means and what comes next, and record the result with the free template.
SLUMS result template
FreeSLUMS EXAM RESULT Date: [Date] Patient: [Name or ID, age] Given by: [Name and role; SLU training video watched] Reason: [Memory concern raised by the patient or family, yearly check, or follow-up of an earlier score] BEFORE TESTING Schooling: [Years completed and highest level reached] Language: [Language used; SLU translation and examiner fluent in it, or English original] Hearing and vision: [Glasses and hearing aids worn, and whether the patient could see and hear every task] Alertness: [Alert and at usual baseline, or concerns about delirium, pain, sedation, or recent illness] SCORE Total: [0 to 30] Cutoffs used: [High school education: 27 to 30 normal, 21 to 26 mild neurocognitive disorder, 20 or below dementia; or less than high school: 25 to 30, 20 to 24, 19 or below] Range: [Normal, mild neurocognitive disorder range, or dementia range] WHERE POINTS WERE LOST Domains with errors: [Orientation, recall, attention, calculation, word fluency, visuospatial, executive function] Observations: [Effort, anxiety, fatigue, self-corrections, anything else that affected the result] OTHER FINDINGS Daily function: [What the patient manages alone and what needs help: medicines, money, cooking, shopping, driving] Collateral history: [Who described changes, with consent, and over how long] Other causes: [Depression screen, delirium features, sleep, alcohol, medicines that affect thinking, neurological exam] PLAN Next step: [Full cognitive assessment, treat another cause first, or no further action] Labs: [B12, thyroid function, blood count, chemistries, calcium, glucose, others] Imaging: [Brain CT or MRI, or not needed now and why] Referral: [Memory clinic, geriatrics, neurology, or neuropsychology, and what was sent] Driving and safety: [Driving advice, medicines, money, stove, firearms, and who was told] Repeat SLUMS: [Date, no sooner than 12 months, same language version and cutoff set] Clinician: [Name, credentials]
Use it for
The SLUMS is for adults 60 and over. It’s given face to face, in private, in the patient’s own language, by a professional who has watched SLU’s training video.
Avoid: Giving it by phone or video. Some tasks need drawing on paper, and SLU notes that a remote version hasn’t been validated.
Read each item as printed on the official form, and keep to its timing. It takes about 7 minutes.
Avoid: Rewording an item or giving hints. The SLUMS is standardized, and changes affect what the score means.
Score each item as the form directs and add the points for a total from 0 to 30. The 11 items cover orientation, memory, attention, calculation, word fluency, visuospatial skills, and executive function.
Avoid: Reading every total against the high school cutoffs. A score of 20 is the dementia range after high school, but the mild neurocognitive disorder range without it.
The range shows whether impairment is likely and how much. A full assessment decides whether it’s there.
Avoid: Diagnosing dementia from the total. The SLUMS is a screen.
A total below normal for the patient’s schooling calls for a fuller look, and a conversation about safety.
Repeat the SLUMS no more than once a year, so practice doesn’t raise the score.
Each one follows the recording template. Use them to judge how much to write.
Family practice, visit booked after his wife raised memory concerns, given by the practice nurse in a quiet room
Finished high school, 12 years; retired electrician. Tested in English, his first language. Reading glasses on; hearing aids in both ears, checked and working. Alert, no recent illness.
Total 23 of 30. High school cutoffs used: mild neurocognitive disorder range.
Most points lost on delayed recall and the executive tasks; clock hands misplaced. No errors on orientation or calculation. Good effort, a little anxious at the start.
74-year-old man. His wife, with his consent, describes 18 months of repeated questions, one missed bill payment, and a wrong turn on a familiar route last month. Still drives, shops, and manages his medicines with a weekly pill box. PHQ-9 4. No delirium features. Oxybutynin 5 mg twice daily for bladder symptoms, started a year ago. Two beers on weekends. Neurological exam nonfocal.
Full cognitive assessment. Labs: B12, TSH, CBC, electrolytes, calcium, glucose, kidney and liver function. Oxybutynin stopped for its anticholinergic effect; mirabegron started instead. MRI brain ordered. Referred to the memory clinic for detailed testing. Driving discussed: his wife drives on unfamiliar routes until the memory clinic review, with an on-road driving assessment if concerns continue. Repeat SLUMS in 12 months, or as the memory clinic advises.
Geriatric clinic, first visit on referral from her family doctor, given in Portuguese with SLU’s translation
8 years of schooling; left after grade 8 to work in a textile mill. Tested in Portuguese with SLU’s translation, by a nurse fluent in Portuguese. Bifocals on. Right hearing aid in, quiet room, facing the examiner. Alert. A urinary infection 6 weeks ago has cleared, and her daughter says she is back to her usual self.
Total 20 of 30. Less than high school cutoffs used: 20 to 24 is the mild neurocognitive disorder range. Read against the high school cutoffs, the same total would have fallen in the dementia range.
Most points lost on delayed recall and word fluency, some on attention. Orientation intact. Slow to start, tearful once when talking about her husband.
80-year-old woman. Her daughter, with consent, describes a year of forgotten conversations and lost keys, and two missed appointments this autumn. Lives alone, cooks, shops nearby, and takes her medicines from a weekly pack the pharmacy prepares. Doesn’t drive. PHQ-9 in Portuguese 11; sleeping poorly since her husband died in March. Takes amlodipine and atorvastatin, no sedatives. No falls. Neurological exam nonfocal.
Mild neurocognitive disorder range on the right cutoffs, with grief and depressive symptoms that may be lowering the score. Labs: B12, TSH, CBC, chemistries, calcium. MRI brain ordered. Referred for bereavement counseling in Portuguese; neuropsychology testing in Portuguese once mood improves. Safety: pharmacy pack continues, stove with automatic shut-off discussed, daughter to call daily. Mood review in 4 weeks. Repeat SLUMS in 12 months with the same Portuguese version and the less than high school cutoffs.
A total of 20 is the dementia range after high school and the mild neurocognitive disorder range without it. Ask about schooling first, and record which set you used.
Delirium, pain, sedation, or a recent hospital stay lower the score. Wait until the patient is back to their usual self, or record why you went ahead.
A patient who can’t see the page or hear the questions loses points for the wrong reason. If they can’t see or hear well enough even with aids, don’t give it.
The SLUMS is standardized. Read the items as printed, don’t give hints, and use SLU’s translations instead of translating on the spot.
The labels describe where the score falls. Whether it’s mild neurocognitive disorder or dementia depends on daily function and a full assessment.
Testing more than once a year can raise the score through practice and hide a decline.
Vero Scribe records the SLUMS result in your template from the visit, with the patient’s consent, or from your dictation: schooling, the total, which cutoffs you used, where points were lost, and the plan. You review and edit every line, then copy it into your record. Vero works in 60+ languages.
Each of the 11 items is scored as the official form directs, and the points add up to a total from 0 to 30. Then read the total against the cutoffs for the patient’s schooling: one set for people who finished high school, another for people who didn’t.
With a high school education, 27 to 30 is normal, 21 to 26 is the mild neurocognitive disorder range, and 1 to 20 is the dementia range. With less than a high school education, 25 to 30 is normal, 20 to 24 is mild neurocognitive disorder, and 1 to 19 is dementia. The ranges show who needs a full assessment; they don’t make the diagnosis.
Use the high school education cutoffs for anyone who finished high school or went further, and the less than high school cutoffs for anyone who didn’t. Ask before you start, write it on the form, and record which set you used. The choice changes the result at totals of 20, 25, and 26.
All three score out of 30. The SLUMS is free from Saint Louis University, has separate cutoffs by schooling, and leans more on recall and executive function; in its 2006 validation study it picked out mild neurocognitive disorder better than the MMSE did. The MMSE is copyrighted and sold. The MoCA counts 26 or more as normal, adds a point for 12 or fewer years of education, and its owners require certification to read its domain scores, though not for using the total alone. Shorter screens such as the Mini-Cog take about 3 minutes. Scores don’t convert between tests, so use the same one for each patient over time.
Saint Louis University says health care and social service professionals can give it after watching its training video. It takes about 7 minutes, face to face, with a timer, pen, and paper. A translated version should be given by a professional fluent in that language. The diagnosis comes from a full assessment by a clinician.
Saint Louis University advises no more than once a year in most cases, because repeating it sooner can raise scores through practice. Use the same language version and the same cutoff set each time, so results compare.
Not as published. Some tasks need drawing on paper, and SLU notes that a remote version would need its own validation, which hasn’t been done. Give it in person.
Yes. Saint Louis University offers it free, with the official form, the training video, and 23 professional translations and regional versions on its SLU Mental Status Exam page. Use the form as printed and don’t reword the items. The recording template on this page is free to copy or download.
Six self-report questions on the past six months: a positive adult ADHD screen at 4 or more of 6 shaded answers.
Three-word recall and a clock drawing in about 3 minutes: a dementia screen scored 0 to 5, positive at 0 to 2.
Memory, attention, language, visuospatial and executive skills, and orientation in about 10 minutes: scored 0 to 30, normal at 26 or more.
The yearly visit where a memory concern or a cognitive check often comes up.
Cognitive screens, family input, and care plans, recorded from the visit for your review.
Memory clinic visits, test results, and referral letters, recorded for your review.
Every tool, by area, with what its scores mean.
Vero records scores, findings, and plans in the templates you choose, so you review instead of type.
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