Therefore, effective early detection of cognitive decline, using appropriately validated test such as the MoCA, is important for this population as the MoCA test in Vietnamese has not been validated with a community-based sample for early MCI screening. 14 These co-morbid factors can put Vietnamese older adults at an increased risk of cognitive decline. In addition, Asian Americans in general are at a particularly high risk for viral hepatitis. 13 VAs also have markedly higher incidences of cervical and liver cancer compared to any other ethnic groups. For instance, compared to other Asian American subgroups, VA women had the highest rates of stroke and dementia. Several medical conditions associated with increased risks of cognitive decline were common among Vietnamese. 9–11 A recent study of the MoCA test in Vietnamese included a very small sample (n=7) of Vietnamese older adults who had been diagnosed with dementia or neurocognitive disorder. 5–7 Research with a community-based sample, where the MoCA and MMSE scores were compared 8 or the internal reliability and construct validity of the MoCA test were examined remains limited. 4 In more recent validations of the MoCA test in languages other than English, the test scores were also compared between groups with and without a clinical diagnosis of cognitive impairment. In many studies, the MoCA test and subtests have primarily been validated against either a clinical diagnosis or the Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE) score, another tool also widely used for MCI screening. Koski 3 summarized this literature within the context of cerebrovascular diseases, where cognitive impairment is a common consequence. With a score between 0 and 30 points, the MoCA has the ability to assess multiple cognitive domains 1,2 it has been used in more than 200 countries in different languages, and available for clinical and educational use from Many researchers have validated the MoCA test the vast majority of such studies were with patient populations - those at risk or already diagnosed with cognitive impairments. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) 1 is a simple and user friendly tool widely used for screening mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a transitional stage between normal aging and dementia. The promising performance of a Vietnamese version of the MoCA test seen in this study has important practical implications for the screening of MCI among an important immigrant population in community settings. The study suggests several potential areas for improvement to enhance discriminating power of certain items and sub-tests, including the memory domain. The test was found to be a reliable, and likely valid, instrument for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) screening within our study population. Our findings indicate good psychometric applicability and internal reliability, as well as construct and criterion validity of this modification of the MoCA test.

We also correlated the MoCA score with individual characteristics, including age, sex, and education.

Item analyses, and construct and criterion validity analyses were performed. METHODSįorty-eight older adults were interviewed using a Vietnamese version of MoCA. These normative data may provide a more accurate representation of MoCA performance in older adults for specific age and education stratifications.Īlzheimer’s disease cognitive decline cognitive impairment cognitive screening dementia.The goal of this study was to assess how the Vietnamese version of the MoCA test performed in a community-based sample of Vietnamese American (VA) older adults, an immigrant population with whom the MoCA test has not been validated. Forty-six percent of our sample scored below the suggested cutoff of 26. There were significant differences between age and education groups with younger and more educated participants outperforming their counterparts. Data from 205 participants in an ongoing longevity study were used to derive normative data. Given the rapidly increasing number of older adults and associated risk of dementia, this study aims to provide appropriate age- and education-adjusted norms for the MoCA. The original validation study for the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) suggests a cutoff score of 26 however, this may be too stringent for older adults, particularly for those with less education.

Moca cognitive assessment norms