18, 20 The MoCA has not yet been validated in old age psychiatry settings, where patients are referred with multidimensional causes for MCI 21 and to our knowledge our study is the first to do so. 18, 19, 20 This is especially relevant in case‐control study designs using community‐based healthy controls (HC), as this is not representative of the clinical reality. 17 It is important to validate the MoCA in specific settings, as the selection of subjects with different characteristics may influence the test characteristics of a scale such as the MoCA. The MoCA shows good validity in multiple languages, 2 although moderately so in Dutch in a geriatric memory clinic setting. Therefore, we need to know its diagnostic test accuracy in this setting. We introduced in our clinic a short cognitive assessment using the MoCA for all referred patients to lower doctors delay by adding an objective aid to triage those in need for specialized diagnostic route besides having baseline cognitive data. 10, 11 In The Netherlands, referrals to old age psychiatry consist of a mix of neurodegenerative and other psychiatric disorders, such as depression, bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, and severe anxiety disorders, all of which can be accompanied by poor cognitive functioning. By knowing patient's cognitive functioning at referral, besides timely detecting dementia also to monitor all causes of MCI in old age psychiatry, one can adapt their (psychiatric) treatment eg, pharmacotherapy (including compliance) or psychotherapy, especially as this population is at greater risk of changing cognitive functioning not only by age but also by (psychotropic) medication or because of the referral reasons. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 However, the setting of old age psychiatry is different to our opinion. 3Įven though more and more advocacy groups or policy makers favor screening for dementia, there is still a debate if screening in various populations is wise. 2 The MoCA is recommended by the Alzheimer Society to objectively assess cognitive complaints in a clinical setting. It is widely used across the world in a variety of settings. The battery can be administered by clinicians and researchers under the supervision of a trained psychologist.The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) 1 was developed as a brief screening test for mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The administration of the battery would require appropriate skill and experience. The battery will also be valuable for research. The battery will be useful for early identification of MCI and dementia. As a clinical assessment tool, the ICMR-NCTB will provide measures of multiple cognitive functions including memory, visuospatial ability, language and executive functions. The battery may also be used for research purpose. The ICMR-NCTB is designed to provide relevant information for general clinical and neuropsychological evaluations. The main languages spoken in these areas include: Hindi in Delhi, Bengali in Kolkata, Hindi and Telugu in Hyderabad, Kannada in Bangalore and Belgaum, and Malayalam in Trivandrum. The collaborating institutions included All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi from the North Apollo Hospitals, Kolkata from the East Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) Hyderabad, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) Bangalore, Manipal Hospital Bangalore, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Belgaum, and Sri Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), Trivandrum from three different states in Southern India.

A multidisciplinary group of neurologists, neuropsychologists, speech and language pathologists and experts from related fields worked together. Six centres across India collaborated - Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Trivandrum, Bangalore and Belgaum. The ICMR-NCTB is a product of a multicentric study supported by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The goal of the project was to develop a comprehensive cognitive, behavioural and functional test battery for diagnosing MCI and dementia in five different Indian languages: Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

Brief overview of ICMR-Neuro Cognitive Tool Box (ICMR-NCTB)ĭevelopment and Standardisation of the ICMR-NCTB

Moca test hindi pdf