To investigate the applicability of the modified memory sub-test of syndrom kurz test (SKT-M) in middle-aged and elderly Chinese. Between March 1, 2017, and October 31, 2017, at HwaMei Hospital, 132 patients receiving elective great saphenous vein high ligation and stripping operation and 96 their accompanying dependents, 55-75 years old, were randomly divided into the SKT-M group (121) and auditory verbal learning test -huashan version (AVLT-H) group (107) using random numeral method. The two groups underwent two corresponding neuropsychological tests respectively on the day before surgery and the second day after surgery. There was no significant difference in the baseline characteristics and all the neuropsychological indices at the two time points between patients and dependents (0.05). As a consequence, the data of the patients and dependents were integrated to compare the applicability of SKT-M and AVLT-H. The "low-score" ratio of SKT-M immediate recall (2.4%) was lower than that of AVLT-H test (12.1%) (χ(2)=8.138, 0.01). Besides, the "low-score" ratio of SKT-M delayed recall (5.7%) was also lower than that of AVLT-H test (20.5%) (χ(2)=11.167, 0.01). The influence factors of SKT-M were less than that of AVLT-H test. However, the learning effect of SKT-M immediate recall was more significant, for its first testing sore (23.1±5.4) was significantly higher than the second one (21.9±5.1) (-3.971, 0.001). The SKT-M has better applicability to 55-75 years old Chinese than AVLT-H test, but its learning effect should be noted.