Screening for Mild Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults

The need for brief measures to accurately detect prodromal indications ofAlzheimer’s disease, or Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is paramount. Thecurrent study compared the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) andthe Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) in detecting individuals withMCI. The study included 90 older adult participants: 60 cognitively healthycontrols and 30 individuals with MCI. Binary Logistic Regression and Receiver Operating Characteristiccurve analyses indicate the MoCA is superior to the MMSE in detectingMCI. A lower MoCA cutoff score (\u3c24) provides greater sensitivity andspecificity than the original norms (\u3c26). In a subscaleanalysis, the delayedrecall items on the MoCA demonstrate the greatest diagnostic utility.Implications for cognitive screening in older adults are presented