Cognitive Disorders

Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)

Change in Cognitive Functioning in Patients With Cognitive Disorders

2023 Center for Brain Health, MoCA

AD = Alzheimer disease, FTD = frontotemporal dementia, LBD = Lewy body dementia, MCI = mild cognitive impairment

ᵃSome patients were categorized under more than one diagnosis (eg, MCI and FTD), resulting in higher numbers for diagnostic groups than total patients.

All patients undergo brief cognitive screening using MoCA. Typically, patients are given the MoCA during their initial visit and at various intervals afterward, and changes in MoCA score can be used to track progression of disease.¹

A MoCA score of ≥ 26 is considered normal. A total of 618 patients had at least 2 visits between 2022–2023 and 1 visit in 2023 with MoCA data available for analysis. Baseline and follow-up scores were 19.04 and 18.66, respectively, for an average change of −0.38 points. AD showed the largest annual change (−0.49) and FTD showed the smallest annual change (0.62).

Change in MoCA Scores by Disease Group

2023

AD = Alzheimer disease, FTD = frontotemporal dementia, LBD = Lewy body dementia, MCI = mild cognitive impairment, MoCA = Montreal Cognitive Assessment

ᵃSome patients were categorized under more than one diagnosis (eg, MCI and FTD), resulting in higher numbers for diagnostic groups than total patients.

Cognitive functioning as measured by the MoCA remained stable or worsened for most patients with a baseline score of ≤ 25. Clinically meaningful change was defined as a change of ≥ 3 points.

References
  1. Norman GR, Sloan FA, Wyrwich KW. Interpretation of changes in health-related quality of life: the remarkable universality of half a standard deviation. Med Care. 2003 May;41(5):582-592.