Developing a Brief Neuropsychological Battery for Early Diagnosis of Cognitive Impairment.
Tau Ming Liew
PMID 30992186WHAT IT FOUND
Adding two specific recall tests to the MoCA creates a brief battery that detects mild cognitive impairment and dementia as accurately as a full neuropsychological exam.
This saves hours while maintaining diagnostic precision for early cognitive decline.
Key findings
01The brief battery (MoCA+) achieved an AUROC of 90.0%, which was significantly better than the full neuropsychological battery's 88.4%.
02The MoCA alone had a significantly worse AUROC (86.9%) than the full neuropsychological battery, indicating the brief battery adds necessary diagnostic value.
03The two additional tests in the brief battery require only about 25 minutes to complete and can be administered by trained non-neuropsychologists.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study used participants who volunteered at Alzheimer’s Disease Centers, so the results may not apply to other clinical settings with different patient profiles. A small proportion of diagnoses (15.8%) were made by single clinicians rather than a consensus conference, which may affect accuracy. The brief battery is designed for screening and confirming impairment presence; it does not replace investigations needed to determine the cause of the impairment.
Declared interests
No conflicts of interest were declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use this brief battery to determine the cause of cognitive impairment. It is designed only to detect the presence of mild cognitive impairment or dementia, and it does not replace the detailed profiling or medical investigations needed for diagnosis of etiology.