Cognitive Performance on the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Across the Healthy Adult Lifespan

Abstract

Objective We sought to compare age-related performance on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) across the adult lifespan in an asymptomatic, presumably normal, sample. Background The MMSE is the most commonly used brief cognitive screening test; however, the MoCA may be better at detecting early cognitive dysfunction. Methods We gave the MMSE and MoCA to 254 community-dwelling participants ranging in age from 20 to 89, stratified by decade and we compared their scores using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Results For the total sample, the MMSE and MoCA differed significantly in total scores as well as in visuospatial, language, and memory domains (for all of these scores, P <0.001). Mean MMSE scores declined only modestly across the decades; mean MoCA scores declined more dramatically. There were no consistent domain differences between the MMSE and MoCA during the 3rd and 4th decades; however, significant differences in memory (P <0.05) and language (P <0.001) emerged in the 5th through 9th decades. Conclusions We conclude that the MoCA may be a better detector of age-related decrements in cognitive performance than the MMSE, as shown in this community-dwelling adult population.

The Mini-Mental State Examination: Czech Norms and Cutoffs for Mild Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment due to Alzheimer's Disease

“…Our mean score on the MMSE (28 ± 2) in the Czech Republic was similar to those in other elderly Czechs (29 ± 1), in the USA (29 ± 1; 28 ± 2), Canada (27 ± 2), Australia (27 ± 4), Japan (29 ± 2; 28 ± 2), Korea (27 ± 2; 26 ± 3), Singapore (27 ± 3; 28 ± 2), Slovenia (27 ± 2), Croatia (27 ± 3), and Italy (27 ± 2) [4,6,7,21,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30]. Therefore, performance in NOS appears to be cross-culturally independent and shows a ceiling effect (the test is ‘too easy').…”

Correlations among cognitive and behavioural assessments in patients with dementia due to Alzheimer's disease

“…Schooling seems to be important for baseline cognitive performance when patients have not yet developed a dementia syndrome, confirming the effects of the cognitive reserve, but this protection is lost when the burden of AD pathology starts to increase. For non-demented populations [17], the Montreal Cognitive Assessment is considered to be even better for detection of age-related decrements in cognitive performance than the MMSE.…”

Mediterranean Diet, Cognitive Function, and Dementia: A Systematic Review of the Evidence

“…The majority of studies used the MMSE, which is a good method of monitoring the progression of dementia and is relatively better than other tests, such as the Six-Item Screener or the Modified Mini-Mental State Examination. Nevertheless, there are issues with the use of the MMSE, because it is not sensitive to cognitive changes in a healthy population (80) and its outcome previously has been shown to be dependent on educational status (81).…”