No abstract

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a brief cognitive screening tool with high sensitivity for screening patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The authors examined the validity and reliability of the Korean version of the MoCA (MoCA-K) in elderly outpatients. The MoCA-K, a Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale, and neuropsychological batteries were administered to 196 elderly persons (mild Alzheimer's disease [AD] = 44, MCI = 37, normal controls [NC] = 115). MoCA-K scores were highly correlated with those of MMSE and CDR. Using a cutoff score of 22/23, the MoCA-K had an excellent sensitivity of 89% and a good specificity of 84% for screening MCI. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were good. The results obtained show that the MoCA-K is brief, reliable, and suitable for use as a screening tool to screen MCI patients in elderly outpatient clinic settings.

We translated the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale into Korean, paying careful attention to culturally different modes of expression of depressive feelings and thoughts. The final translated version (CES-D-K) was administered to 164 psychiatric patients and 464 normal subjects residing in the community. Reliability, validity, and the optimal cutoff point of this scale were estimated, including ROC analysis. The CES-D-K was reliable and valid for the Korean population. Two optimal cutoff points were suggested: 24/25, the point which best corresponded to the clinical diagnosis of depression, and 20/21, which most effectively detects and covers depressive symptoms during screening. The higher cutoff points than those in Western countries may be due to different ways of expression affect, especially the suppression of positive affect, in cultures based on Confucian ethics.