The inclusion criteria for the participants were being 60 years or older and having no salient communication problems. The inclusion criterion for the controls was cognitive normality, as defined by a performance within 1 SD in all neuropsychological measures (Table 1). Control subjects were selected from community-dwelling older adults. Patients were recruited from 2 memory clinics, i.e., the Rehabilitation Hospital (Tehran, Iran) and the Brain and Cognition Clinic (Tehran, Iran). The AD patients had to have an MMSE score <22, and the MCI subjects had to have an MMSE score ≥22 and no obvious communication problems. Of these 120 participants, 21 had a clinical diagnosis of AD, 40 were diagnosed as having MCI, and 59 comprised the control group. The MoCA is more sensitive than the MMSE in screening for cognitive impairment, proving it to be superior to MMSE in detecting MCI and mild AD. Discussion: The results of this study show that the Persian version of the MoCA is a reliable screening tool for detection of MCI and early stage AD.

The specificity of the MoCA was 70% and 90% for MCI and AD, respectively. In AD patients with a cutoff score of 20, the MoCA had a sensitivity of 94% whereas the MMSE detected 61%. Using an optimal cutoff score of 22 the MoCA test detected 86% of MCI subjects, whereas the MMSE with a cutoff score of 26 detected 72% of MCI subjects. Results: The mean score on the Persian version of the MoCA and the MMSE were 19.32 and 25.62 for MCI and 13.71 and 22.14 for AD patients, respectively. Also, a battery of comprehensive neuropsychological assessments was administered.

All the participants were administered the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) to evaluate their general cognitive status. Twenty-one subjects had mild AD (MMSE score ≤21), 40 had MCI, and 59 were cognitively healthy controls. Method: One hundred twenty elderly with a mean age of 73.52 ± 7.46 years participated in this study. The aims were to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Persian MoCA as a screening test for mild cognitive dysfunction in Iranian older adults and to assess its accuracy as a screening test for MCI and mild Alzheimer disease (AD). Introduction: The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a cognitive screening test widely used in clinical practice and suited for the detection of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).

Moca cognitive assessment population