Abstract:

 Objective     To study the application of Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) in vascular cognitive impairment (VCI), and make a benchmark for a cutoff score. Methods   60 healthy elderly controls and 50 patients meeting the clinical criteria for VCI were tested by MoCA and mini-mental state examination(MMSE). The validities of MoCA and MMSE were compared. The age, sex, education and nature of the work in the two groups were stratified and analyzed. Results    Education and nature of the work had statistical differences between MoCA and MMSE. In persons whose education level was below junior high school, the cutoff score for MoCA was ≥22, and the sensitivity was 83.3%, which was higher than that for MMSE sensitivity (46.7%); in those whose education level was above junior high school, the cutoff score for MoCA was ≥25, the sensitivity was 85%, which was higher than that for MMSE (50%). Conclusion     MoCA has a higher screening sensitivity for VCI than MMSE do. Adjustment in the cutoff scores would improve the detection of VCI by reducing false negativity. MoCA scores should be used to identify current cognitive difficulties but not be used to make formal diagnosis.

Key words: Cognition disorders； Dementia, vascular； Montreal cognitive assessment