Italian practitioners should consider an adaptive use of region-specific norms for the MoCA.Ĭognitive screening/first-level tests allow an estimate of global efficiency/functioning by adequately balancing between informativity and practicality of usage. Item-level information herewith provided for the Italian MoCA can help interpret its scores by Italian practitioners. Memory items showed high discriminative capability, along with certain items assessing executive functions and orientation. Several items proved to be scarcely sensitive, especially the place item from Orientation and the letter detection task. Substantial disagreements with previous ESs classifications were detected. No sex differences were detected when tested along with age and education. ResultsĪge and education significantly predicted all MoCA measures except for Orientation, which was related to age only. Agreement with previous ESs classification was assessed via Cohen’s k. Normative values were derived by means of the Equivalent Scores (ESs) method, applied to the MoCA and its sub-scales. Item Response Theory (IRT) was adopted to assess item difficulty and discrimination. Methodsįive hundred and seventy nine healthy individuals from Northern Italy (208 males, 371 females age: 63.4 ± 15, 21–96 education: 11.3 ± 4.6, 1–25) were administered the MoCA. This study thus aimed at providing: (i) updated, region-specific norms for the Italian MoCA, by also (ii) comparing them to pre-existing ones with higher geographical coverage (iii) information on sensitivity and discriminative capability at the item level. The MoCA is an acceptable cognitive screening test for the cognitive evaluation of FM patients.The availability of fine-grained, culture-specific psychometric outcomes can favor the interpretation of scores of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), the most frequently used instrument to screen for mild cognitive dysfunctions in both instrumental and non-instrumental domains. Moderate positive correlations were found between the MoCA and the computerised cognitive scores as follows: Global Cognitive Score (r=0.493**, p=0.00), Memory Index Score (r= 0.384**, p=0.002), Executive Function Index Score (r=0.461**, p=0.00), Attention Index Score (r=0.310*, p=0.016), Information Processing Speed Index Score (r=0.435**, p=0.001), and Motor Skills (r=0.406**, p=0.002). Patient effort was controlled on the TOMM (Test of Memory Malingering). FM symptoms were assessed on the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), the Widespread Pain Index (WPI), the Symptom Severity Scale (SSS), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-2). Sixty-two FM patients (55 women, 7 men, mean age = 46.17 years, sd=12.56) were administered the MoCA and a computerised cognitive assessment battery. The aim of this study is to examine whether the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test is a valid measure of cognitive assessment in FM patients, by comparing it to a comprehensive computerised cognitive assessment battery. This points to the need for a briefer valid evaluation tool for cognitive dysfunction in FM. However, recent studies have shown that there is no correlation between these subjective measures of cognitive dysfunction and more lengthy objective measures of cognitive functioning. Cognitive dysfunction is one of the criteria for the diagnosis of fibromyalgia (FM) and is typically based on self-report questionnaires such as the Symptom Severity Scale.
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