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The MoCA: well-suited screen for cognitive impairment in Parkinson disease
Dalrymple-Alford JC, MacAskill MR, Nakas CT, Livingston L, Graham C, Crucian GP, Melzer TR, Kirwan J et al.. Neurology, 2010-11-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objective To establish the diagnostic accuracy of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) when screening externally validated cognition in Parkinson disease (PD), by comparison with a PD-focused test (Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson disease-Cognition [SCOPA-COG]) and the standardized Mini-Mental State Examination (S-MMSE) as benchmarks. Methods A convenience sample of 114 patients with idiopathic PD and 47 healthy controls was examined in a movement disorders center. The 21 patients with dementia (PD-D) were diagnosed using Movement Disorders Society criteria, externally validated by detailed independent functional and neuropsychological tests. The 21 patients with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) scored 1.5 SD or more below normative data in at least 2 measures in 1 of 4 cognitive domains. Other patients had normal cognition (PD-N). Results Primary outcomes using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses showed that all 3 mental status tests produced excellent discrimination of PD-D from patients without dementia (area under the curve [AUC], 87%-91%) and PD-MCI from PD-N patients (AUC, 78%-90%), but the MoCA was generally better suited across both assessments. The optimal MoCA screening cutoffs were Conclusions The MoCA is a suitably accurate, brief test when screening all levels of cognition in PD.
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APA 7th
Dalrymple-Alford, J. C., MacAskill, M. R., Nakas, C. T., Livingston, L., Graham, C., Crucian, G. P., et al. (2010). The MoCA: well-suited screen for cognitive impairment in Parkinson disease. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0b013e3181fc29c9
Vancouver
Dalrymple-Alford JC, MacAskill MR, Nakas CT, Livingston L, Graham C, Crucian GP, et al. The MoCA: well-suited screen for cognitive impairment in Parkinson disease. Neurology. 2010. doi:10.1212/wnl.0b013e3181fc29c9. PMID: 21060094.
BibTeX
@article{dalrymplealford2010-21060094,
author = {Dalrymple-Alford, J. C. and MacAskill, M. R. and Nakas, C. T. and Livingston, L. and Graham, C. and Crucian, G. P. and Melzer, T. R. and Kirwan, J. and others},
title = {{The MoCA: well-suited screen for cognitive impairment in Parkinson disease}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2010},
doi = {10.1212/wnl.0b013e3181fc29c9},
pmid = {21060094},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0b013e3181fc29c9}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Results Primary outcomes using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses showed that all 3 mental status tests produced excellent discrimination of PD-D from patients without dementia (area under the curve [AUC], 87%-91%) and PD-MCI from PD-N patients (AUC, 78%-90%), but the MoCA was generally better suited across both assessments.
Why it matters
This study found that the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, a brief screening test, accurately screened for cognitive impairment at all levels in Parkinson's disease. It concerns diagnosis and screening only and reports nothing about treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Participants114
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 58/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Neurology: journal h-index 525 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2010 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 114 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 934 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 51.9 citations a year over 18 year(s) since 2010 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 18.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 17 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 4 / 4 | Cited 219 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Tim Anderson: h-index 48 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | University of Canterbury: institution h-index 466 (OpenAlex) |
| Multicenter collaboration | 2 / 3 | PubMed indexes it as a multicentre study |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 21060094) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 58 / 100 | — |
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