Screening for Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson's Disease: Improving the Diagnostic Utility of the MoCA through Subtest Weighting.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Given the high prevalence of cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD), cognitive screening is important in clinical practice. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a frequently used screening test in PD to detect mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) and Parkinson's disease dementia (PD-D). However, the proportion in which the subtests are represented in the MoCA total score does not seem reasonable. We present the development and preliminary evaluation of an empirically based alternative scoring system of the MoCA which aims at increasing the overall diagnostic accuracy.

Methods

In study 1, the MoCA was administered to 40 patients with PD without cognitive impairment (PD-N), PD-MCI, or PD-D, as defined by a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery

SUBMITTER: Fengler S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4954721 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature