The Montreal Cognitive Assessment: Creating a Crosswalk with the Mini-Mental State Examination.

OBJECTIVES

To establish Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores that correspond to well-established cut-points on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).

DESIGN

Cross-sectional observational study.

SETTING

General medical service of a large teaching hospital.

PARTICIPANTS

Individuals aged 75 and older (N = 199; mean age 84, 63% female).

MEASUREMENTS: The MoCA (range 0-30) and the MMSE (range 0-30) were administered within 2 hours of each other. The Abbreviated MoCA (A-MoCA; range 0-22) was calculated from the full MoCA. Scores from the three tests were analyzed using equipercentile equating, a statistical method for determining comparable scores on different tests of a similar construct by estimating percentile equivalents.

RESULTS

MoCA scores were lower (mean 19.3 ± 5.8) than MMSE scored (mean 24.1 ± 6.6). Traditional MMSE cut-points of 27 for mild cognitive impairment and 23 for dementia corresponded to MoCA scores of 23 and 17, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Scores on the full and abbreviated versions of the MoCA can be linked directly to the MMSE. The MoCA may be more sensitive to changes in cognitive performance at higher levels of functioning.