Screening for brain fog: Is the montreal cognitive assessment an effective screening tool for neurocognitive complaints post-COVID-19?

Gen Hosp Psychiatry

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, New York Medical College, United States; Department of Psychiatry, Westchester Medical Center Health System, United States.

Published: September 2022


Category Ranking

98%

Total Visits

921

Avg Visit Duration

2 minutes

Citations

20

Article Abstract

Background: Cognitive complaints are one of the most frequent symptoms reported in post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC). The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) has been used to estimate prevalence of cognitive impairment in many studies of PASC, and is commonly employed as a screening test in this population, however, its validity has not been established.

Objective: To determine the utility of the MoCA to screen for cognitive impairment in PASC.

Methods: Sixty participants underwent neuropsychological, psychiatric, and medical assessments, as well as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, 6-8 months after acute COVID-19 infection.

Results: The overall sample had a mean score of 26.1 on the MoCA, with approximately one third screening below the cutoff score of 26, similar to the rate of extremely low NP test performance. MoCA score was inversely correlated with fatigue and depression measures and ethnic minority participants scored on average lower, despite similar education and estimated premorbid function. The MoCA had an accuracy of 63.3% at detecting any degree of diminished NP performance, and an accuracy of 73.3% at detecting extremely low NP performance.

Discussion/conclusion: The MoCA may not be accurate for detecting neither mild nor more severe degrees of diminished NP test performance in PASC. Therefore, patients with persistent cognitive complaints in the setting of PASC who score in the normal range on the MoCA should be referred for formal NP assessment.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9359801PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2022.07.013DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

montreal cognitive
12
cognitive assessment
12
cognitive complaints
8
cognitive impairment
8
extremely low
8
test performance
8
cognitive
7
moca
7
screening
4
screening brain
4

Similar Publications

Blood-based biomarkers (BBMs) have emerged as promising tools to enhance Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis. Despite two-thirds of dementia cases occurring in the Global South, research on BBMs has predominantly focused on populations from the Global North. This geographical disparity hinders our understanding of BBM performance in diverse populations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cognitive dysfunction in systemic lupus erythematosus: Insights from a two-year longitudinal study in a Brazilian cohort.

Reumatol Clin (Engl Ed)

September 2025

Mackenzie Evangelical School of Medicine, Curitiba, Brazil; Internal Medicine Post Graduate, Clinical Hospital, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil; Department of Medicine, Positivo University, Curitiba, Brazil. Electronic address:

Objectives: The objective of this study was to examine cognitive dysfunction in a Brazilian sample of SLE patients for two years.

Methods: A sample of 50 individuals with SLE was assessed at baseline for epidemiological and treatment data, disease activity by SLEDAI 2K (SLE disease activity 2000), cumulative damage by SLICC/ACR DI (Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index), depression by CES-D (Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression) and cognitive function through MoCA (Montreal Cognitive Assessment). The same assessment was repeated after two years.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Objectives: Years before diagnosis of Parkinson disease (PD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), or multiple system atrophy (MSA), mild prodromal manifestations can be detected. Longitudinal follow-up of people with prodromal synucleinopathy, particularly idiopathic/isolated REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD), enables in-depth clinical phenotyping of early disease, which could facilitate stratification for clinical trials, provide the definition of appropriate end points, or predict phenoconversion more precisely. The aim of this study was to update and expand on previous studies assessing clinical evolution from iRBD to clinically diagnosed disease, up to 14 years before diagnosis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Postoperative delirium (POD) and postoperative encephalopathy (POE) are common complications in older adults undergoing aortic valve replacement (AVR), yet the predictive accuracy of cognitive screening tools remains uncertain. In this prospective cohort study, 50 patients aged 65 years and older scheduled for AVR between January and October 2022 underwent preoperative assessment with the Brain Aging Monitor Cognitive Assessment (BAMCOG) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Postoperatively, POD was evaluated with the Delirium Observation Screening (DOS) scale and POE with electroencephalography (EEG).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Ambulatory older residents in long-term care(LTC) have the highest risk of falling. However, the relationship between ambulatory activity (steps per day) and fall risk in LTC is unclear. This study examined whether baseline daily step count, functional capacity and cognitive function predicted falls in LTC residents, and whether functional capacity modified the relationship between step count and fall risk.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF