Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) results are strongly influenced by educational level. The Brief Cognitive Screening Battery (BCSB) is an alternative assessment tool that provides more accurate results in individuals with less education. Objective: Our aim was to compare the MMSE and BCSB as screening tests. Methods: The MMSE and BCSB were assessed in 112 participants by two evaluators blind to the other test's result. Participants were classified according to their level of education. The influence of education level was analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis and multiple comparison tests. Results: Scores of the MMSE (p < 0.0001) and the clock-drawing test (p < 0.0001) were influenced by education level but the delayed recall test score was not (p = 0.0804). The verbal fluency test (p = 0.00035) was influenced only by higher educational levels. It took three minutes less to apply the MMSE than to apply the BCSB (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: These findings suggest that the delayed recall test and the verbal fluency test of the BCSB are better than the MMSE and clock-drawing test as tools for evaluating cognition in people with limited education.

Introduction: Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is the most common cognitive screening instrument for Mild Cognitive Impairment detection. Although the current Brazilian version (MoCA-BR) has been validated, in clinical practice, it is observed that adults with normal cognitive function, especially those less educated, rarely reaches the maximum score of 30 points on the test. Objective: Introduce a methodology to adjust the Brazilian version according to the Brazilian culture. A cross-se Methods: ctional observational study was conducted with 294 participants. In the Memory section, we used the free listing technique to replace words. In the Naming section, an epidemiological survey of the most pinpointed gures was conducted. Replication of Sentence section was modied based on meetings between researchers and Portuguese teachers uent in English. The alternative version of MoCA-BR was composed by: "az Results: ul" (blue), "braço" (arm), "orquídea" (orchid), "seda" (silk) and “igreja” (church) in Memory Section; giraffe, elephant, and lion in the Naming section; “Eu só sei que é João quem será ajudado hoje” and "O gato sempre se esconde embaixo do sofá quando o cachorro está na sala" in the Replication of Sentence section. Our Conclusions: data reinforce the need to adapt the MoCA-BR. We present an alternative version of MoCA-BR, which contemplates the linguistic and cultural requirements of the transcultural adaptation process. The next step is to apply this version to obtain its validation. We believe that this adaptation may allow a future better applicability of the MoCA-BR, especially in less educated people, without underestimating the scores of cognitively normal individuals