

What do cognitive screening tests show?Ĭognitive screening tests are simple, quick, basic tests. You may have noticed such a decline yourself or a close friend or family member may have noticed. Your brain is your body’s thought processing center.Ĭognition involves intellectual activities, including:Ĭognitive tests are usually done if there’s a suspicion of mental decline or impairment. What is cognition?Ĭognition is your brain’s ability to process all the information it takes in from your senses. The test is also called a cognitive screening test or cognitive assessment. The test involves answering simple questions and performing simple tests. What is a cognitive test?Ī cognitive test checks for problems with your mental function (how your brain processes thoughts). In patients already diagnosed with MCI, the MoCA helps identify those at risk of developing dementia at 6-month follow-up.A clock-drawing test is one of many screening tests for cognitive impairment.

The MoCA is a useful brief screening tool for the detection of mild dementia or MCI in subjects scoring over 25 points on the MMSE. Of subjects with MCI, 35% developed dementia within 6 months, and all scored less than 26 points on the MoCA at baseline. Specificity for the MMSE was 100%, and specificity for the MoCA was 50%. The MMSE had a sensitivity of 25% to detect subjects with dementia, whereas the MoCA detected 94%. With a cut-off score of 26, the MMSE had a sensitivity of 17% to detect subjects with MCI, whereas the MoCA detected 83%. The sensitivity and specificity of both measures were assessed for detection of MCI and dementia. Clinical diagnoses for dementia and MCI were made according to ICD-10 and Petersen criteria. We administered the MoCA and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) to 32 subjects fulfilling diagnostic criteria for dementia, to 23 subjects fulfilling diagnostic criteria for mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and to 12 memory clinic comparison subjects, at baseline and then at 6-month follow-up. To prospectively validate the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in a UK memory clinic.
