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Additional Queen Square (QS) screening items improve the test accuracy of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) after acute stroke

Chan, E; Garritsen, E; Altendorff, S; Turner, D; Simister, R; Werring, DJ; Cipolotti, L; (2019) Additional Queen Square (QS) screening items improve the test accuracy of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) after acute stroke. Journal of the Neurological Sciences , 407 , Article 116442. 10.1016/j.jns.2019.116442. Green open access

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Abstract

BACKGROUND The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a popular cognitive screening tool used in stroke, but lacks sensitivity for detecting impairment in stroke-relevant domains of processing speed, non-verbal memory and executive functions. Our aim was to assess whether the test accuracy of the MoCA can be improved with additional tailored screening items targeting these three domains. METHODS We included 196 patients admitted to an acute stroke unit at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square (QS), London. Participants completed the MoCA as well as a series of additional QS-screening items designed to assess speed of processing, non-verbal memory and executive functions. Performance on the MoCA and QS screening items was compared with performance on “gold standard” neuropsychological assessment. RESULTS In our sample, 22% of patients were classified as “cognitively intact” on the traditional MoCA alone (≥ 25). However, when tested on the QS-screening items, 40% of these patients failed on speed of processing, 56% failed on non-verbal memory and 26% failed on executive functions. Compared with neuropsychological assessment, the QS-screening items had good sensitivity (QS-Speed: 0.85; QS-Vis: 0.71; QS-EF: 0.73) and modest specificity (QS-Speed: 0.59; QS-Vis: 0.39; QS-EF: 0.54), regardless of stroke lateralisation. CONCLUSION Additional screening items detected impairments in speed of processing, non-verbal memory and executive functions over and above those captured using the standard MoCA. The use of these QS-screening items improves the detection of post-stroke cognitive deficits in domains not adequately covered by the standard MoCA.

Type: Article
Title: Additional Queen Square (QS) screening items improve the test accuracy of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) after acute stroke
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.jns.2019.116442
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jns.2019.116442
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Cognition, Stroke, Neuropsychology, Sensitivity, Specificity, Executive functions
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Brain Repair and Rehabilitation
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Department of Neuromuscular Diseases
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10090114
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