Brief screening for mild cognitive impairment: validation of the Brazilian version of the Montreal cognitive assessment

Abstract

Background The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a brief cognitive schedule that has been developed for the screening of patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). MCI is recognized as a high‐risk state for Alzheimer's disease. The aim of the present study is to examine the reliability and validity of the Brazilian version of the MoCA test (MoCA‐BR) in a sample of older individuals with at least 4 years of education. Methods The MoCA‐BR was administered to 112 older adults who were classified into three diagnostic groups according to their cognitive state (Alzheimer's disease, n = 28; MCI, n = 43; normal controls, n = 41). This procedure was based on clinical and neuropsychological data. The performance in the MoCA‐BR was compared with the Mini‐mental state examination (MMSE) and the Cambridge Cognitive Examination. Diagnostic accuracy was examined with the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses. Results Cronbach's alpha for the MoCA‐BR was 0.75. Temporal stability (retesting after 3 months) using intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.75 ( p < 0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of the MoCA‐BR for MCI were 81% and 77%, respectively, with a cut‐off score of 25 points. The area under the ROC curve for predicting MCI was 0.82 ± 0.06. Conclusions The present results indicate that the MoCA‐BR maintains its core diagnostic properties rendering it a valid and reliable tool for the screening of MCI among older individuals with at least 4 years of education. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.