Which brief, 12-minute cognitive assessment is commonly used to screen for mild cognitive impairment?

Which brief, 12-minute cognitive assessment is commonly used to screen for mild cognitive impairment?

• A. MoCA
• B. MMSE
• C. Mini-Cog
• D. Clock Drawing Test

Answer: (A)

Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is designed as a brief screen specifically to detect mild cognitive impairment. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes and evaluates a range of cognitive domains—attention, executive function, memory, language, visuospatial abilities, abstraction, and orientation. This broad scope helps pick up subtle deficits that often characterize MCI, which can be missed by tools that focus mainly on memory or by very brief screens. MoCA also offers education-adjusted scoring and a recommended cutoff to flag possible impairment for further evaluation, making it well-suited for a 12-minute screening context. In contrast, while the MMSE is widely used, it has lower sensitivity for MCI and may miss early, subtle changes; the Mini-Cog and Clock Drawing Test are even briefer and focus on fewer domains, so they’re less reliable for identifying MCI.

Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is designed as a brief screen specifically to detect mild cognitive impairment. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes and evaluates a range of cognitive domains—attention, executive function, memory, language, visuospatial abilities, abstraction, and orientation. This broad scope helps pick up subtle deficits that often characterize MCI, which can be missed by tools that focus mainly on memory or by very brief screens. MoCA also offers education-adjusted scoring and a recommended cutoff to flag possible impairment for further evaluation, making it well-suited for a 12-minute screening context. In contrast, while the MMSE is widely used, it has lower sensitivity for MCI and may miss early, subtle changes; the Mini-Cog and Clock Drawing Test are even briefer and focus on fewer domains, so they’re less reliable for identifying MCI.