#Moca test scoring interpretation serial#

Since the MoCA assesses multiple cognitive domains, it can be a useful cognitive screening tool for several neurological diseases that affect younger populations, such as Parkinson's disease, vascular cognitive impairment, Huntington's disease, brain metastasis, sleep behaviour disorder, primary brain tumors (including high- and low-grade gliomas), multiple sclerosis and other conditions such as traumatic brain injury, cognitive impairment from schizophrenia and heart failure. (2017), of 3,413 Norwegian participants aged 63–65, of whom 47% had higher education (over 12 years), under 5% of subjects scored 30/30 with a mean MoCA score of 25.3 and 49% scoring below the suggested cut-off of 26 points, leading the authors to suggest that 'the cut-off score may have been set too high to distinguish normal cognitive function from MCI'. In a study, people without cognitive impairment scored an average of 27.4 people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) scored an average of 22.1 people with Alzheimer's disease scored an average of 16.2. A score of 26 or over is considered to be normal. The National Institutes of Health and the Canadian Stroke Network recommended selected subsets of the MoCA for the detection of vascular cognitive impairment.

Other studies have tested the MoCA on patients with Alzheimer's disease. Subsequent studies in other settings were less promising, though generally superior to the MMSE. Īccording to the validation study, the sensitivity and specificity of the MoCA for detecting MCI were 90% and 87% respectively, compared with 18% and 100% respectively for the MMSE. Several cut-off scores have been suggested across different languages to compensate for education level of the population, and several modifications were also necessary to accommodate certain linguistic and cultural differences across different languages or countries however, not all versions have been validated.Įfficacy MoCA test study Ī MoCA test validation study by Nasreddine in 2005 showed that the MoCA was a promising tool for detecting mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early Alzheimer's disease compared with the well-known Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Multiple cultural and linguistic variables may affect the norms of the MoCA across different countries and languages, e.g. Finally, orientation to time and place is evaluated by asking the subject for the date and the city in which the test is occurring (6 points).īecause MoCA is English-specific, linguistic and cultural translations are made in order to adapt the test in other countries.Abstract reasoning is assessed using a describe-the-similarity task with 2 points being available.Language is assessed using a three-item confrontation naming task with low-familiarity animals ( lion, camel, rhinoceros 3 points), repetition of two syntactically complex sentences (2 points), and the aforementioned fluency task.

#Moca test scoring interpretation serial#

Attention, concentration, and working memory are evaluated using a sustained attention task (target detection using tapping 1 point), a serial subtraction task (3 points), and digits forward and backward (1 point each).Multiple aspects of executive functions are assessed using an alternation task adapted from the trail-making B task (1 point), a phonemic fluency task (1 point), and a two-item verbal abstraction task (2 points).Visuospatial abilities are assessed using a clock-drawing task (3 points) and a three-dimensional cube copy (1 point).The short-term memory recall task (5 points) involves two learning trials of five nouns and delayed recall after approximately five minutes.The MoCA assesses several cognitive domains:

Successive results show a deterioration of pattern processing ability in a subject as they progress from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to severe Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this clock drawing task, the subject is asked to draw a clock with the hours and showing the time 2:30.