In the context of clinical research, accurate cognitive assessment tools are needed for an adequate selection of participants, since erroneous inclusion or exclusion of individuals may bias study findings. Early detection of dementia is crucial for an implementation of therapeutic strategies in the earliest disease stages, and reliable cognitive screening tools play an important role in this process of identifying individuals with cognitive impairment. Using two separate cut-offs for the MoCA combined with scores in an indecisive area enhances the accuracy of cognitive screening.Ī steep increase in the prevalence of dementia is expected, associated with social, economic, and societal challenges. Scores between these two cut-offs require further examinations. Introducing two separate cut-offs increased diagnostic accuracies with 92% specificity (23/24 points) and 91% sensitivity (26/27 points). Compared to the original MoCA cut-off, the cut-off of 23/24 points had higher specificity (92% vs 63%), but lower sensitivity (65% vs 86%). ResultsĪ cut-off of 23/24 on the MoCA had better correct classification rates than the MMSE and the original MoCA cut-off. Cut-offs were identified based on (a) Youden’s index and (b) the 10th percentile of the control group. Methodsĭata were analyzed from 496 Memory Clinic outpatients (447 individuals with a neurocognitive disorder 49 with cognitive normal findings) and from 283 normal controls. We aim to revise the cut-off on the German MoCA for its use in clinical routine. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) has good sensitivity for mild cognitive impairment, but specificity is low when the original cut-off (25/26) is used.

Moca assessment test score scale