High orientation and low delayed recall in the standardisation of the Spanish version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in elders of Peru

Abstract

The elderly in Peru face significant barriers in healthcare, notably in detecting cognitive impairment and dementia. These difficulties are exacerbated by the scarcity of validated and standardised cognitive assessment instruments for this age group. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) has proven to be a useful tool for the early detection of dementia, evaluating eight domains of cognitive functions, including: visuo-spatial and executive function, naming, memory, attention, language, abstraction, and orientation. This study aims to standardise the Spanish version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) for the elderly in Lima, addressing the critical need for culturally and demographically adapted cognitive evaluation tools in Peru. The test was administered to 338 ambulatory and homebound elders from three institutions: San Miguel District Municipality, San José Obrero Polyclinic in Barranco, and EDMECON in Surco. The study provides normative data and cutoff scores for the Peruvian elderly population, facilitating the clinical application of the MoCA in Peru and potentially other Spanish-speaking countries. Our results indicate high orientation scores and low delayed recall performance, possibly highlighting cognitive strengths and weaknesses in our sample. Moreover, age and education significantly influenced cognitive performance, with education being the strongest predictor. We discuss our findings in relation to the use of appropriate cut-off points and considerations of cultural sensitivity relevant to the Peruvian context.