![]() Moreover, a telephone assessment does not allow observing the patient, which can add rich qualitative information to the assessment. The authors established a 17/20 cut-off, yet, they underlined that the Tele-MoCA is not sensitive enough to detect subtle cognitive impairments, such as mild cognitive impairment or dementia at its early stages. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Klil-Drori and collaborators evaluated the use of a 20-point telephone version of the MoCA to establish a cut-off to determine normal cognitive functioning. However, to date, the MoCA has traditionally been used for in-person testing. Indeed, participants with stable heart failure obtained both statistically and clinically significant lower total MoCA scores than participants with low cardiovascular risk factors. Also, a previous study published by our group showed that the MoCA was useful to differentiate between different cardiovascular disease profiles. Previous studies have shown that the MoCA is sensitive and can differentiate healthy older adults from adults with mild cognitive impairment and dementia. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a cognitive screening tool that is widely used by professionals in a clinical setting. Furthermore, specific norms for videoconference administered tests are needed to adequately interpret scores. However, the shift from in-person cognitive assessments to off-site assessments, such as telephone or videoconference assessments, calls for the use of valid and sensitive tools that are able to reliably detect cognitive impairment. Overall, this trend in publications shows the growing interest and use of teleneuropsychology in clinical practice. Reflecting this phenomenon is the wave of recent publications having for topic remote assessments: whereas for the past 10 years, only one or two publications per year had the keyword “teleneuropsychology” on PubMed, in 2020, there were 22 publications, and in 2021, 36 articles have been published with this keyword. Although neuropsychologists and other health professionals did not traditionally use technology in their practice prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been a catalyst for the development of remote assessments and has propelled telemedicine and teleneuropsychology to the forefront. ![]() Given that older adults are at higher risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19, clinicians were required to rapidly implement teleneuropsychology in their practice, to maintain access to services. Yet, these assessments are crucial to allow for the early detection of cognitive impairment, and consequently for early intervention. These ongoing staying-at-home and social distancing measures to control virus transmission have for collateral effect to reduce in-person health services, among these, neuropsychological and cognitive assessments. In March 2020, the world was put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic: several countries forced their populations to home confinement following the World Health Organisation’s recommendation. The present normative data will not only allow clinicians to continue to perform assessments remotely in this pandemic period but will also allow them to perform cognitive assessments to patients located in remote areas. ![]() This study provides normative data for the MoCA administered via videoconference in Quebec-French individuals aged 50 years and over. For clinicians, a regression equation was proposed to calculate Z scores. Neither sex nor cardiovascular disease, were significant predictors in our analyses. Regression analyses revealed that older age and lower education were associated with poorer total MoCA scores, for medium effect size ( p < 0.001, R 2 = 0.17). As an exploratory analysis, a second regression analysis was also run with cardiovascular disease as a predictor. Regression analyses were run with sex, education, and age as predictors of the total MoCA scores, based on previously published norms. ![]() MethodsĪ total of 230 community-dwelling adults aged 50 years and older taking part in clinical trials completed the MoCA by videoconference. This study had for objective to develop French-Quebec normative data for videoconference-administration of the MoCA that consider sociodemographic characteristics. The normative data specific to the context of videoconference administration is essential, particularly that consider sociodemographic characteristics. Recent reviews appear to confirm the validity of a wide range of neuropsychological tests for teleneuropsychology and among these, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), a cognitive screening test widely used in clinical settings. The COVID-19 pandemic forced health professionals to rapidly develop and implement telepractice and remote assessments.
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