The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a popular and effective in-person tool for screening individuals for Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive disorders. The MoCA has been adapted for telephone administration in a version dubbed T-MoCA, which was designed for screening in situations where in-clinic visits are not possible. With many older adults home-bound due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an urgent need to validate the T-MoCA.

In a study published online on February 5 in Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, Mindy Katz, M.P.H., and colleagues with the Einstein Aging Study compared T-MoCA with the in-person MoCA. Study participants were a diverse group of Bronx residents: 428 men and women with a mean age of 78. The T-MoCA was found to be an effective substitute for the in-person MoCA for screening individuals with cognitive impairment and indicating which of them require in-depth evaluation.

Mindy Katz is a senior associate in The Saul R. Korey Department of Neurology at Einstein.