Normative data for the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) in a Spanish sample of community-dweller adults

IntroductionThe Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is widely used to screen patients with suspected mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Spanish normative scores are provided for age and educational level.Materials and methodsThe MoCA was administered to 628 adult community members aged between 50 and 97 years. After exclusion of participants suspected of suffering from cognitive impairment and/or depression, the final sample consisted of 563 adults.ResultsInternal consistency values of the MoCA were good and slightly lower than those obtained for the original scale. The convergent validity was good, and the divergent validity was within the recommended range value. Percentiles for age and educational level were calculated using regression coefficients and the standard deviation of the residual. Sex had a very small effect on MoCA total scores, and this variable was therefore not included in the regression equation.ConclusionsPsychometric indexes revealed that the MoCA is a reliable and valid instrument. The study findings support that specification of the normative data by age and educational level is imperative in order to produce reliable and valid indicators for research and clinical purposes.