Validation of MoCA-MMSE Conversion Scales in Korean Patients with Cognitive Impairments.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Two conversion scales between the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) have been validated for Korean patients with Parkinson's disease. The aim of the present study was to validate these conversion scales for all patients with cognitive impairments regardless of dementia subtype. METHODS: Medical records of 323 subjects who completed both MMSE and MoCA on the same day were retrospectively reviewed. Mean, median, and root mean squared error (RMSE) of the difference between true and equivalent MMSE scores were calculated. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) between true and equivalent MMSE scores were also calculated. The validity of MoCA-MMSE conversion scales was evaluated according to educational level (low educated: ≤6 years; high educated: ≥7 years) and subtypes of cognitive impairment. RESULTS: The difference between true and equivalent MMSE scores had a median value of 0, a mean value of 0.19 according to the van Steenoven scale, a mean value of 0.57 according to the Lawton scale, RMSE value of 2.2 according to the van Steenoven scale, and RMSE value of 0.42 according to the Lawton scale. Additionally, ICCs between true and equivalent MMSE scores were 0.92 and 0.90 on van Steenovan and Lawton conversion scales, respectively. These results were maintained in subgroup analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Findings of the present study suggest that both van Steenovan and Lawton MoCA-MMSE conversion scales are applicable to transforming MoCA scores into MMSE scores in patients with cognitive impairments regardless of dementia subtype or educational level.

Premorbid exercise engagement and motor reserve in Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND: Life-long experiences of cognitive activity could enhance cognitive reserve, which may lead individuals to show less cognitive deficits in Alzheimer's disease, despite similar pathological changes. We performed this study to test whether premorbid physical activity may enhance motor reserve in Parkinson's disease (PD) (i.e., less motor deficits despite similar degrees of dopamine depletion). METHODS: We assessed engagement in premorbid leisure-time exercise among 102 drug naive PD patients who had been initially diagnosed at our hospital by dopamine transporter scanning. Patients were classified into tertile groups based on the frequency, duration, and intensity of the exercises in which they participated. RESULTS: Among patients with mild to moderate reductions in striatal dopaminergic activity (above the median dopaminergic activity), the exercise group of the highest tertile showed significantly lower motor scores (i.e., fewer motor deficits, 15.53 ± 6.25), despite similar degrees of dopamine reduction, compared to the combined group of the middle and the lowest tertiles (21.57 ± 8.34, p = 0.01). Nonetheless, the highest tertile group showed a more rapid decline in motor function related to reductions in striatal dopaminergic activity than the other two groups (p = 0.002 with the middle tertile group and p = 0.001 with the lowest tertile group). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that engagement in premorbid exercise acts as a proxy for an active reserve in the motor domain (i.e., motor reserve) in patients with PD.

The MMSE and MoCA for Screening Cognitive Impairment in Less Educated Patients with Parkinson's Disease.

OBJECTIVE: To explore whether the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) can be used to screen for dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in less educated patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of PD patients who had taken the Korean MMSE (K-MMSE), Korean MoCA (K-MoCA), and comprehensive neuropsychological tests. Predictive values of the K-MMSE and K-MoCA for dementia or MCI were analyzed in groups divided by educational level. RESULTS: The discriminative powers of the K-MMSE and K-MoCA were excellent [area under the curve (AUC) 0.86-0.97] for detecting dementia but not for detecting MCI (AUC 0.64-0.85). The optimal screening cutoff values of both tests increased with educational level for dementia (K-MMSE < 15 for illiterate, < 20 for 0.5-3 years of education, < 23 for 4-6 years, < 25 for 7-9 years, and < 26 for 10 years or more; K-MoCA < 7 for illiterate, < 13 for 0.5-3 years, < 16 for 4-6 years, < 19 for 7-9 years, < 20 for 10 years or more) and MCI (K-MMSE < 19 for illiterate, < 26 for 0.5-3 years, < 27 for 4-6 years, < 28 for 7-9 years, and < 29 for 10 years or more; K-MoCA < 13 for illiterate, < 21 for 0.5-3 years, < 23 for 4-6 years, < 25 for 7-9 years, < 26 for 10 years or more). CONCLUSION: Both MMSE and MoCA can be used to screen for dementia in patients with PD, regardless of educational level; however, neither test is sufficient to discriminate MCI from normal cognition without additional information.