| Poster | Poster Session 06 Program Schedule
02/15/2024
04:00 pm - 05:15 pm
Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120)
Poster Session 06: Aging | MCI | Neurodegenerative Disease - PART 2
Final Abstract #78
The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) at the Framingham Heart Study: A re- examination of the norms
Emma Muller, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, United States
Calvin Guan, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, United States
Preeti Sunderarman, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, United States
Sherral Devine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, United States
Phillip Hwang, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, United States
Rhoda Au, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, United States
Ashita Gurnani, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, United States
Category: MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment)
Keyword 1: neuropsychological assessment
Keyword 2: cognitive screening
Keyword 3: mild cognitive impairment
Objective:
Research regarding the use of the originally provided cutoff score of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), a screening tool used widely in the detection of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), is inconsistent. Studies indicate that the MoCA cutoff for MCI is highly dependent on population characteristics with some studies showing that the cutoff may result in a high rate of false positives. The purpose of the current study is to provide normative and descriptive data in a large sample of community dwelling adults.
Participants and Methods:
Participants were from Generation 3 and Omni 2 cohorts of the Framingham Heart Study (n= 3325; 90.38% Caucasian) who were determined to be dementia free at time of enrollment and were administered the MoCA as part of their third health exam, which are administered approximately every 4 years (Mage = 54.14, SDage = 8.99, age range= 32-89, 60.90% ≥ college educated). Normative data were generated by age and education. Analysis of variance was used to examine the relationship between MoCA performance against age and education.
Results:
The average MoCA score across all participants was 24.48 (SD=3.12). After stratifying for age and education, the average MoCA score was below 26 across all age groups and education levels. Notably, the average MoCA score for individuals below the age of 40 who were college educated was 26.23 (SD = 2.5, N= 168). It appeared that the low score on the MoCA was potentially attributable to the score on the delayed recall task, which was 2.27 out of 5 points (SD=1.68) across all age groups and education levels, and remained consistent even for college educated individuals below the age of 40 (M=3.15; SD=1.56). There were significant main effects of MoCA scores for both age; F(4, 3310) = 23.53, p < .0001, and education; F (2, 3310) = 55.56, p < .0001).
Conclusions:
Results indicate that MoCA scores decrease with increasing age and education. Findings also suggest that the original cutoff score of 26 on the MoCA is likely too high and can potentially result in a high false positive rate for MCI within a healthy sample, especially given the low delayed recall score irrespective of age. Findings are comparatively more consistent with the recently suggested MCI cutoff score of 23 and highlight the need for population- based norms when using the MoCA. The limitations of this study include a highly educated, primarily non-Hispanic, white population that hails from the same geographic region. Given considerable heterogeneity in cognitive performance on screening measures across diverse populations (e.g., ethnic/racial, education, income, geographic), the findings support continued research into the use of culturally and educationally agnostic, globally applicable, metrics to aid in accurate early detection of cognitive impairment.
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