CHAPTER 28: MONTREAL COGNITIVE ASSESSMENT (MOCA)
Description
The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), developed by Nasreddine et al., (2005), is an interactive tool developed to detect mild cognitive dysfunction through the assessment of the cognitive domains of attention, concentration, executive function, memory, language, visuoconstructional skills, conceptual thinking, calculations, and orientation. The MoCA comprises 11 items and example items include drawing a line from a number to a letter in ascending order, copying a drawing of a cube as accurately as possible, and drawing a clock with hands at ten past eleven (11:10). The MoCA is similar to the Mini Mental State (MMSE; see Chapter 27) although it is somewhat more complex as it places greater emphasis on frontal executive function and attention tasks. Thus it is considered more sensitive in detecting mild cognitive impairment (MCI) as well as non-Alzheimer’s neurocognitive disorder (NCD) when compared with the gold standard MMSE (Wong et al., 2013). The MoCA takes approximately 10 minutes to administer and the maximum possible score is 30. Higher scores are indicative of better executive functioning.
TABLE 28-1
ITEM CATEGORIES ON THE MONTREAL COGNITIVE ASSESSMENT
1. Alternating trail making |
2. Visuoconstructional skills—cube |
3. Visuoconstructional skills—clock |
4. Sentence repetition |
5. Abstraction |
6. Delayed recall |
7. Naming |
8. Memory |
9. Attention |
10. Verbal fluency |
11. Orientation |
Adapted from Nasreddine, Z., Phillips, N., Bédirian, V., Charbonneau, S., Whitehead, V., Collin, I., Cummings, J., & Chertkow H. (2005). The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA©): A brief screening tool for mild cognitive impairment. Journal of the American Geriatric Society 53, 695–699.
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