Normative Values for the German Version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a short tool to evaluate a multitude of cognitive domains (visuospatial / executive functioning, object naming, memory, attention, language, abstraction, orientation). The original English MoCA consistently showed very high sensitivity and specificity in distinguishing patients with mild cognitive impairment from healthy controls. Therefore it is an excellent tool for early recognition of cognitive disorders. Based on a Canadian sample, the MoCA proposes a cut-off-value of 26/30 points. However, there is increasing evidence of intercultural differences in terms of the best cut-off-score. In addition the original version only slightly corrects for possible influences of education - an adjustment for age- or gender-related effects is missing. Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate the possible impacts of demographics on the MoCA total score and to provide normative values for a German-speaking population.