Montreal Cognitive Assessment 5-minute protocol is a brief, valid, reliable, and feasible cognitive screen for telephone administration.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke-Canadian Stroke Network Vascular Cognitive Impairment Harmonization working group proposed a brief cognitive protocol for screening of vascular cognitive impairment. We investigated the validity, reliability, and feasibility of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment 5-minute protocol (MoCA 5-minute protocol) administered over the telephone. METHODS: Four items examining attention, verbal learning and memory, executive functions/language, and orientation were extracted from the MoCA to form the MoCA 5-minute protocol. One hundred four patients with stroke or transient ischemic attack, including 53 with normal cognition (Clinical Dementia Rating, 0) and 51 with cognitive impairment (Clinical Dementia Rating, 0.5 or 1), were administered the MoCA in clinic and a month later, the MoCA 5-minute protocol over the telephone. RESULTS: Administration of the MoCA 5-minute protocol took 5 minutes over the telephone. Total score of the MoCA 5-minute protocol correlated negatively with age (r=-0.36; P<0.001) and positively with years of education (r=0.41; P<0.001) but not with sex (ρ=0.03; P=0.773). Total scores of the MoCA and MoCA 5-minute protocol were highly correlated (r=0.87; P<0.001). The MoCA 5-minute protocol performed equally well as the MoCA in differentiating patients with cognitive impairment from those without (areas under receiver operating characteristics curve for MoCA 5-minute protocol, 0.78; MoCA=0.74; P>0.05 for difference; Cohen d for group difference, 0.80-1.13). It differentiated cognitively impaired patients with executive domain impairment from those without (areas under receiver operating characteristics curve, 0.89; P<0.001; Cohen d=1.7 for group difference). Thirty-day test-retest reliability was excellent (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.89). CONCLUSIONS: The MoCA 5-minute protocol is a free, valid, and reliable cognitive screen for stroke and transient ischemic attack. It is brief and highly feasible for telephone administration.

Validity and reliability of the neuropsychiatric inventory questionnaire version in patients with stroke or transient ischemic attack having cognitive impairment.

This study examined the validity and reliability of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire version (NPI-Q), a proxy-reported format of the interview-based NPI, in assessing neuropsychiatric symptoms in 173 patients with stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) having cognitive impairment. The NPI-Q was validated against the NPI as a gold standard. Informants took approximately 7 minutes to complete the NPI-Q. Bland-Altman analysis revealed a bias of 0.7 points, with 95% limits of agreement between -8.6 and 10.0 between the total symptom scores of the NPI and NPI-Q. The NPI-Q correlated significantly with the NPI in individual and total symptom scores and caregiver distress scores. In predicting presence of symptoms on the NPI, the NPI-Q yielded, on average, sensitivity of 74.1% and specificity of 79.5%. On the NPI-Q, informants tended to overreport symptoms in patients with less severe symptoms but underreport with increasing symptom severity. Internal consistency of the NPI-Q was acceptable (Cronbach's α = 0.756). One-week test-retest reliability of the NPI-Q was excellent (intraclass correlation coefficient = .990). The NPI-Q is a valid and reliable instrument for screening neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with stroke and TIA.

The validity, reliability and clinical utility of the Hong Kong Montreal Cognitive Assessment (HK-MoCA) in patients with cerebral small vessel disease.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Hong Kong Montreal Cognitive Assessment (HK-MoCA) in patients with cerebral small vessel disease (SVD). METHODS: 40 SVD patients and 40 matched controls were recruited. Concurrent and criterion validity, inter-rater and test-retest reliability, internal consistency of the HK-MoCA were examined and clinical observations were made. RESULTS: Performance on the HK-MoCA was significantly predicted by both executive (beta = 0.23, p = 0.013) and non-executive (beta = 0.64, p < 0.001) composite scores. It differentiated SVD patients from controls (area under the curve = 0.81, p < 0.001) with an optimal cutoff at 21/22. Reliability, internal consistency and clinical utility were good. CONCLUSION: The HK-MoCA is a useful cognitive screening instrument for use in SVD patients.